PROVENCAL PLENTY

A tastebud-tantalising trip to Vaucluse – Karen Tait sets out on a voyage of discovery of Provence’s abundant produce

- Karen Tait

The row of dried-out thistle heads spinning furiously was strangely hypnotic, especially when combined with the hum of the vast machine. I must admit that when I saw a visit to a blanket factory on my Provence itinerary, I expected to be a little bored. Yet here I was, fascinated by the process used to create these luxurious woollen blankets. In case you were wondering, the thistles lift the pile, giving them their unique fluffy appearance.

Close by, another machine whirred, carrying out the same process but using metallic versions of the natural thistles. Their design is so fiercely protected, we weren’t allowed to take photos! Tradition and innovation sat side by side – a theme I was to discover again and again on my trip.

The designer of the newfangled thistles was the grandfather of Jean-Louis Brun, who was showing us around the factory in L’Isle sur la Sorgue, a family business stretching back eight generations (brundeviantiran. com). He worked in the wine industry for a while but making blankets is not so different, he told me: “The blending is the same process.” He was referring to the materials they use – almost exclusively wool but from camels, llamas and goats as well as sheep, and from five continents, from France to Mongolia to Australia.

As we discovered when faced with the wools in their natural state, some are springier while others are softer (the softest being from baby camels), hence they’re blended. The company has projects all over the world, with the emphasis on sustainability; camels in the Gobi Desert, or closer to home, a 30-year exclusive partnership producing merino wool from a flock of 25,000 sheep in Arles.