Bath and Body Souvenirs To Take Home From Provence

People rarely go home without bringing something back from their travels. Assorted knicknacks bring back happy memories from places far and away. To cap off your perfect Jewish trip, don’t forget to grab souvenirs for you, plus your family and friends.

When you travel to the Provencal region of France, some of the best types of souvenirs that you can buy are bath and body products. Since Provence is one of France’s most prominent agricultural producers, there’s a wide array of Provencal bath and body products that you can indulge in.

Provencal Soap

Provence is well-regarded for its all-natural soaps produced using artisan methods. Provencal market stalls have walls and walls of soap for sale so make sure to check the labels of the ones that you’ll be bringing home.

Savon de Marseille or pure Provencal soaps are made with at least 72% vegetable oil. It’s fascinating to know that Provencal soaps have only three ingredients to be considered authentic: olive oil, palm or copra oil, and soda.

Only four soap makers remaining in Provence. These are the 'Savonnerie du Midi', 'Savonnerie du Fer à Cheval', 'Savonnerie du Sérail' and 'Savonnerie Marius Fabre'. They remain the few that use ancient cauldrons to manufacture the soaps to this day. These make Provencal soaps unique and one-of-a-kind.

Lavender Products

The Provencal region of France is also synonymous with lavender. Lavender fields bursting with blue and purple bloom is the perfect image of Provence, so bringing home lavender-inspired products from your Judeo-Provencal tour is a great way to remember the beautiful place.

During ancient times, lavender was used as a medicinal plant. It was and still used as a unique fragrance and flavor enhancer. Now, it’s also used in various cosmetic products.

So what lavender products from Provence can you bring home? Provencal stalls sell lavender massage oils that are rich in vitamins and nutrients and are known for its aromatherapeutic effects and skin-soothing components. You can also find lavender bath salts, bath bombs, and even lavender eye pillows to make you sleep better.

Perfume

Did you know that the world perfume capital is a little town called Grasse, a medieval Provencal town? Historically, Grasse was a leather tanning town which was known for its high-quality leather gloves. The nobility were fans of its quality, but were not pleased about its smell. A tanner named Galimard came up with the idea of producing a scented leather glove.

Galimard presented a scented leather glove to Catherine de Medici who fell in love with it. The royals and other nobility climbed on the scented leather glove bandwagon and gave Grasse its worldwide reputation. This started the town’s rise as a perfume capital.

When you buy perfumes on market stalls and shops during your Provencal tour, check the labels. If they came from the Galimard Perfumery, Molinard, or Fragonard Perfumery, rest assured that they were produced by Grasse’s top perfume makers. You can also ask the vendors about the origin of the perfumes to make sure you’re bringing home an authentic Provencal scent.

A kosher cruise on river Rhone includes in-depth guided tours in various Provencal cities. This is a great chance to learn more about Judeo-Provencal history as well as discovering the world-class soap and perfume industry of Provence.