L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (7 October 2024)

Viaduct on the way to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

 

This was a flat and easy day so we were told by Natalene at our early morning briefing. 

 

It certainly seemed flat as we headed along quiet country roads toward L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue.  All went well until we came to an intersection where we got a bit confused by the GPS and it took us a couple of minutes to figure out which way to go.  We then had to navigate our way along yet more roads.  L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a very pretty village situated on the river Sorgue.  The water is beautifully clear.  It is called the Venice of Provence. 

2024 - L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue

Almost the same picture taken in 2007 around the same time of the year

 

We stopped at a restaurant for a cup of coffee and pastries by the river.  Then we wandered through the little village before resuming our ride toward Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.  On the way we passed an area which looked like a lake called the le partage des Eaux. It literally means the sharing of the water, where it splits into two. It was a rather beautiful area and on a nice place we could image people having picnics around the water. 


Artwork L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue

 

It was a gentle climb to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.  We passed under a viaduct which I think was a roman structure, but we had no information about this notion.  Fontaine is a small settlement that grew up under the Vaucluse hills as a result of the spring from which the Sorgue originates.  According to the information divers have explored the source and have determined that it comes from all around the Vaucluse. 

Le Partage des Eaux

We had a nice lunch in a restaurant alongside the river. Surprisingly there were not a lot of people in it and we almost bypassed it for that reason. 

Fontain-de-Vaucluse

Path to the source

 After that we wandered up to where the spring is meant to emerge but the track has been closed due to falling rocks.  On the way back we called into a museum that showed the process of making paper from cotton.  It was quite an interesting process and required a lot of beating of the cotton using the power from the water from the Sorgue. 

Couple enjoying the spring

 

There was a bit more climbing on the way back to Les Taillades.  One memorable moment occurred as we were riding along a very narrow country lane.  A small Peugeot came roaring toward us.  The driver suddenly realised we were on the road and slammed on the brakes coming to a stop in a cloud of dust.  As I rode past I think I heard him say, “j’ai conduit comme un fou”.  Roughly translated;  I was driving like a mad man”.  I think that was sentiment anyway.

 

I was very tired when we got back with legs definitely protesting. 

 

Artwork

How to stack chairs


  Often the sights we see are very difficult to capture in a photo.  Often they are so grand that a small picture just does not do it justice.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Frankfurt am Main

Image
Looking toward the CBD We woke early and found that our apartment had a wide and expansive balcony that gave us a view from the west to the east.   It was a nice outlook.     Apartments' courtyard View from the balconey of apartment It was over twelve hours since we had last eaten and Bev wanted breakfast so we went looking for a place in the local area settling on a bakery/café.   The food was carb heavy but it did the trick.   (Comment from Bev: Yum! – there will be a few of these added comments throughout as she edits my blog)   Our tram stop - cycle lane on my right Just before we left New Zealand I had a message from Deutsche Bahn to tell me that the train we were going on from Prague had been cancelled and we had to find another way of travelling.   The website was optimised for German speakers of course so I think the translated version was not as clear.   I thought the easiest way to deal with it was to go to Fra...
Read more

Cold and wet (16 November 2024)

Image
Fairmont Empress Hotel   Finally we were forced indoors by the rain.   We had a relaxed start to the day where we played pool on the pool table in the lounge room where we had our breakfast.   It was about eleven o’clock before we arrived in the Old Town to do a bit more exploring.   As we were walking down the street we came across a wine shop selling only British Columbian wines.   We wandered in and ended up having a chat with the salesman who was passionate about the wines and had good knowledge about them.   I browsed the wines and contemplated getting a bottle but decided against it given I didn’t want to carry it around for the rest of the day.     After a coffee we went to the local tourism office and were given some information.   By that time it was raining.   The idea had been to wander around to Fishermen’s Wharf but the rain became more persistent so we wandered back to The Empress where we had been told to go and have a...
Read more

Returning home (18 November 2024)

Image
  Bev was insistent that we take an Uber to the bus depot and to ensure we didn’t miss it we were away very early.   The trip into town was quite quick.   The driver was a man about our age who had got bored being retired so he worked during the day driving.   It gave him some company.   His earnings for an eight-hour day after expenses was $10 an hour.   The trip back to Vancouver was uneventful.   We were dropped off in central Vancouver and went to our favourite café for a decent coffee and some lunch.   Then it was out to the airport and we were quickly ushered through security.   The plane left on time and we were fortunate to be in Business Class where Bev and I had dinner together.   It is a nice feature of the seating arrangement on Air New Zealand aircraft.   Compared to the 4°C we experienced in Vancouver where snow was low on the ranges behind the city, Auckland was a balmy 16°C which meant our jackets had us swel...
Read more