L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue

Anne-Sophie told us that we had to visit a beautiful little town called L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue, just half an hour out of Avignon. She told us about its wonderful market and the lovely canals that run through it. She also mentioned that L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue was quite famous in this area for its antiques stalls and shops....as soon as I heard this I knew that we would be going as Lesley absolutely loves French furniture, ornaments, materials etc

L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue roughly translates to The Island In The Sorgue.....the old centre of the town is basically an island as it is surrounded by the River Sorgue as it makes it way through the town.

We chose today to go as today was market day! As Anne-Sophie mentioned we got there in just under half an hour. We pulled into a car park just behind the main street and found one empty spot....luck was on our side. Lesley jumped out and I parked the car...as I got out of the car I realised why no-one else had taken the spot...I started to quickly sink in the wet clay surface of the car park....a quick hop, step, and jump and I was on dry land, just a little bit muddier!! Boy, I am sure this would be fun when I had to get the car later in the day!!

Leaving the car park we started seeing the canals that Anne-Sophie had told us about, they looked beautiful, aand the ducks seemed to really like them as well.

Canal Full Of Ducks

As you walk around you can constantly hear the sound of cascading water from the numerous little waterfalls the you can find throughout the town.....it really creates an amazingly peaceful feeling...or an urgent need to go to the toilet...lucky for both of us, we found it very peaceful.

Little Waterfall and Beautiful Building

Waterfall and Park

Waterfalls and Restaurant

With all of these canals you need bridges to get over them, and there are plenty of them...the amazing thing is it does appear that each bridge has its own design and character...I am sure that it helps people get around easier...just look for the bridge with a certain design....it also looks really nice!

Decorative Wrought Iron Bridge

Wooden Lattice Bridge

Cafe Tables On Another Bridge

There are also a number of water wheels in a wide range of conditions and ability to work...the working ones are covered in a thick moss and add a lot of character, and look great as they slowly turn and pass the water through with a gentle sloshing sound.

Water Wheel In Stone Support

Water Wheel With Lovely Building

The market is all on the island of the old town. Just like Uzes it runs down all of the streets and lane ways and into the squares. It is not as big as the Uzes market that we visited yesterday, but is does have everything that you could possibly need, and is in the most spectacular setting.

With so much to look at it is so easy to miss the fantastic old buildings that can found all through the old town, this place really is picture perfect.

Town Centre

Lovely Old Church

Great Buildings Everywhere

As with all the markets we have visited the colours and smells are just wonderful and really gets your appetite going...best advice we can give.....don't shop at these markets when you are hungry...you will spend a fortune!!!

Olives Of Every Description

Fresh Fish, Great Choices

We came across a big square in the centre of the old town that looked like it had been staged.....it could easily have been a "Hollywood Set"...it was an array of what we imagined the perfect French buildings would be, with a rainbow burst of building and shutter colours....it just did not feel real, but here it was.....we loved it!!!!!

Our "Hollywood Set" Square

It is great to walk around a market and see the people.....the shoppers, the stall vendors, the buskers...it just adds to the whole atmosphere of the place.

An Artisan At Work

An Oh So French Busker

At one end of the town is a small lake/pond that is surrounded by restaurants/cafes and just looks the perfect romantic setting for any occassion....gorgeous.

Beautiful Restaurant Setting

As we came past the restaurants we moved into the antique stalls and shops......forget the extra suitcases we would need a couple of containers to get all of the fantastic furniture, ornaments, doors, windows etc. that we liked back to Australia...maybe we could become French Antique Importers...but keep it all to ourselves!

French Antique Stalls

Loved This Old Bike

Great Storage Ideas

We spent quite a few lovely hours walking around L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue, it really is a lovely place with so much character.

After L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue we had a quick drive through the small village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, just a few minutes drive away....this where the River Sorgue originates...from hundreds of metres below the ground. By this time we were both too tired to go looking for the river source and were quite happy with a quick drive through, and just the odd photo stop.

Nice Old Mill

Lovely Gardens On Rivers Edge

The River Source (Not Our Photo)

We left Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and headed back to Avignon, we had had a wonderful day in a beautiful place...L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue was well worth the visit

Oh yes, I nearly forgot, how did I go getting out of the carpark?...Well, no problems really, as long as you don't mind one kilo of clayey mud on your accelerator, brake, and clutch pedals!!

 

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