The Lavender Fields With The Lhoirs

Travel along with writer, filmmaker and mother, Arwa Mamaji, as she leaves her life in Mumbai behind, to jet set across the world and experience new things, all with her baby girl. Here are a few anecdotes from her experiences..

- Arwa Mamaji

The violet petals are tender and fragile, the luscious fields are exuberant and like every drop makes the ocean, every petal emits a fragrance that takes me back to my grandparents’ dressing table.

Lavender is a very vintage fragrance. I grew up in a house where my grandparents were showered with foreign gifts in the form of lavender and rose perfumed talc powder, way before scents and deodorants became a norm. This inspired me to take my daughter to the lavender fields in the south of France.

We set off from a small village in Belgium called Braine le Chateau, to take on a nine-hour car drive to the region of Provence. We were travelling with our European family—The Lhoirs, which consisted of three couples and half a dozen children. Since we were the only Indians on board, and the greatest challenge en route was to entertain my daughter in her car seat for the long drive.