Every Sunday, the beautiful town of L'Isle Sur La Sorgue holds the largest market in the Luberon area. Locals and tourists come from miles around to explore the market which winds through the streets of L'Isle Sur La Sorgue and alongside the Sorgue River.
The town is known as the Venice of Provence with the river flowing alongside the town, with lots of tiny bridges leading from the main road to the town itself. The market has everything you could imagine, but is most famous for its antiques, with one of the largest antique dealerships in France.
We were mainly there for the food and to grab myself another basket, a natural coloured one this time to go with the blue basket I purchased at the markets in the Perigord.
We arrived late in the morning, though I would really advise anyone visiting to go as early as possible. We drove around for almost half an hour before we found a parking spot, and even then it was a good 15 minute walk from the town.
We couldn't believe the scale of the market, every time we turned a corner or wandered down another tiny street, there would be stalls cramming into every nook and cranny in town.
It was hard to walk past and not buy everything we saw, I loved all the handmade soaps and beauty products. There were brightly coloured flowers everywhere, and a huge range of cheese and olives.
Love these beautiful baskets!
We wandered around for a couple of hours, stopping to grab a roast chicken and some roast potatoes, and eating alongside the river, regretting not having brought napkins or tissues. Luckily a French lady was obviously horrified watching us lick our fingers and gave us some tissues to wipe our fingers... only slightly embarrassing!
Afterwards we continued our drive to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, a small town that gets a lot of visitors due to the Spring that is located at the foot of the huge cliffs that back onto the town. The spring is the fifth largest in the world, and is the source of the River Sorgue which flows down to L'Isle Sur La Sorgue.
The site itself is beautiful, with a large ruined castle overlooking the spring below, and the river itself is an amazing mix of deep blues and greens.
We went the complete wrong way on our approach to the town, driving along a long one way street without realising it. Luckily we only passed a couple of cars coming the other way, and the road was definitely wide enough to be a two-lane road! We drove all the way to Fontaine De Vaucluse before we started thinking how weird it was that everyone was coming in the other direction..
The spring is an easy 15-20 minute walk from the centre of town. We stopped for ice cream halfway along and sat in the shade alongside the river, marveling at the bright colours.
We didn't go all the way up to the Spring, it was getting crowded and we didn't think it would be interesting enough to be worth the walk! We were content to wander halfway and then back, I think the river itself at this end is the main attraction. The area itself is also quite touristy, with a lot of junky cheap shops along the way.
The town was great for a short stop as it's a pretty drive from L'Isle Sur La Sorgue, or maybe not if you go the correct way! But I'm not sure it would be worth a trip on its own, even for the beautiful colours.
It was now getting into the late afternoon, so we popped back to the B&B to put on some warmer clothes and headed out to dinner in Gordes, one of the most beautiful towns in the region. It is also one of the busiest and most touristy, which is why we left our visit until after the crowds had departed in the late afternoon.
The view from the road leading into Gordes is spectacular, one of the most beautiful I have seen. It reminded me of the hill towns of San Gimignano and Cortona in Tuscany. In World War II much of the town and its population was destroyed, but has since had a huge restoration and has recaptured its early beauty.
Before dinner we drove a few kilometres down the road to Senanque Abbey. You definitely would have seen the Abbey in photos of Provence and the Luberon, usually with a full field of Lavender in front.
The Abbey is still home to Cistercian monks, who cultivate the fields of lavender that surround the Abbey, the lavender and honey sold helps to fund the Abbey. It is also open to the public during the day for a small fee.
We arrived after it had closed, which meant we were almost the only ones there. we could still walk right up to the Abbey, which was still beautiful even without the Lavender in bloom.
Afterwards we headed back up to Gordes for dinner, it was still a bit early for dinner in France, being only just after 6.30 p.m., so we took the time to explore Gordes. The town is dominated by both a large Church and a Castle at the top of the hill, with all the buildings made of gray stone.
The village has been beautifully restored, with winding alleys and secret passages around every corner. Every so often you will turn a corner and get an amazing view across the countryside.
We ended up at La Trinquette for dinner,
which is one of the most popular restaurants in Gordes. We hadn't made a
reservation, but luckily we were there quite early and they could fit
us in. We sat out on the terrace which has a great view across the
Luberon. We had just sat down when it started raining, so we were glad the terrace was covered and that there was an outdoor heater right behind us!
The food was so delicious, and we also ordered a couple of glasses of red wine, one of which I promptly spilt all over Bradley's lap, meaning he spent a good 10 minutes in the bathroom soaking his trousers in water to make sure the stain didn't set! Lucky for Bradley his trousers came out unscathed and my glass of wine was replaced with no charge.
After dinner we wandered slowly back to our car, taking in a few last views across the Luberon. We had hoped to leave before it got dark, as the roads back to our B&B could be quite confusing with lots of different ways you could go, and tiny roads spreading out in all directions.
Of course we got lost, driving in the complete wrong direction for about 20 minutes before realising we had somehow been turned around and come back towards Gordes, but eventually we found the right way and ended back home in the pitch black safe and sound.
what abeautiful region of France did you buy your basket they looked lovely.
ReplyDeleteFood so tempting