Vaucluse, and principally the Plateau of Sault, is the top French producer of lavender, with 1150 hectares of lavender and 1750 hectares of lavandin under cultivation, yielding 40 % of French production of lavender essence.

Lavender is a Mediterranean plant belonging to the family of the labiatae, along with thyme, rosemary, savory and many others.

It is the most popular of the aromatic plants. In summer the coloured fields wave like a blue meadow, giving off intoxicating smells. 

Thousands of years old, reputed for its perfume and therapeutic qualities, it has been used since ancient times. Already referred to by Pliny (AD 23-79) ; used by the Romans to perfume their bath and store linen ; used as a medicinal plant by the Greeks, and again recommended by Saint Hildegarde in the 12th. Century.

Till the mid-twentieth century the flowers of this wild plant, growing above the 600 metre contour, were harvested by sickle. This method of gathering proved insufficient to satisfy industrial demand. Lavender cultivation spread and the reaper-binder replaced the knife. Lavender is still cut by hand to be used in dried bouquets, where as from 15 July to 15 August the cutting of the flowers meant to the distilleries is highly mechanised. Steam-distillation of flower-heads releases essential oil used in the perfume industry, in pharmacy or aromatherapy. Cleaned flowers (blossoms removed from stalks) are packed in bags of Provençal material or used in infusions.