PARIS – The sweet smell of lavender is tinged with bitterness this year in the south of France, as farmers who harvest the flower protest European regulations linking the plant to chemical toxins.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover travel, specializing in adventure and the great outdoors. Rows of purple, fragrant flowers are a treat to see and smell.

NBC New York got a first look and tour of the property just as the French lavender began to blossom this summer, a favorite time for tourists to check out the fields before harvest. "We grow over ...