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| Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Provence Vacations and Luxury Travel Packages |
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West of Gordes is Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, which is reached by taking the D15, the Cavaillon road, turning right after 4miles (6 km) to Cabrières-d'Avignon, then taking the D100 and D100A to the village.
The 'fountain' of the name is the resurgent River Sorgue which appears as a lake at the cavernous foot of a huge semi-circular crag. Son et lumière shows are given here on summer evenings, looked over by the ruined castle of the bishops of Cavaillon. What looks like a placid lake and stream turns into a foaming torrent when the heavy rains of winter and spring have seeped into the fissured limestone rocks of Mont Ventoux, Lure and Luberon. The underground streams come to the surface through this powerful siphon. The remains of the Roman aqueduct which carried the waters of the Sorgue to Arles are visible by the roadside of the D24 near the village of Galas.
In Fontaine-de-Vaucluse itself, is the Norbert Casteret Speleological Museum, named for the great French cave explorer. The museum houses Casteret's own collection of stalagmites and stalactites, together with reconstructions of typical sections of cave systems and a history of the explorations of the Fontaine resurgence. Close to the museum is the Vallis Clausa paper mill. Paper has been handmade in the village since the fourteenth century, today's process being essentially the same as that used for the last 400 years, a process that includes the use of flowers.
Over the centuries, men of letters have come here in pilgrimage out of respect for a major innovative poet and his romantic attachment to Laura. He has been called the first modern man, the one who took the step away from medievalism's fearful submission to divine authority and towards the individualistic Renaissance assertion of man as the measurer of values.
Also in the village is a museum that explores aspects of the 1939-45 war: the Resistance movement in Vaucluse; life in occupied France; 'La Liberte de l'Esprit (the Freedom of the Spirit); and a collection of writings and paintings illustrating the French striving for freedom.
To the west of Fontaine is L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a mecca for antique hunters. The Hôtel Donadeï de Campredon, a beautiful eighteenth century mansion, is worth visiting for its decoration, in French classical style, and the occasional exhibitions held there. The mansion lies to the north of the town church: to the west, the old hospital has some delightful eighteenth century wood and wrought ironwork and a collection of Moustiers pottery jars in the old pharmacy.
Finally, almost any walk along the River Sorgue is worthwhile as at several points around the town there are old waterwheels, now moss-grown, but a reminder of the town's history as a centre for olive oil and silk making.
North-west of Fontaine is Pernes-les-Fontaines, a village grouped around an ancient clock tower, but with another tower - Tour Ferrande in Rue Gambetta - that is thirteenth-century and contains some quite beautiful frescos dating from the last quarter of that century. |
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| Click here to start planning a France great vacation, tour or cruise with our Virtuoso Travel Advisors. You may call us too, but we'd really appreciate it if you complete a vacation planner first so we can determine which destination specialist to introduce you to.Thank you very much! Call 1 800 330 8820 or 415 446 5252 to book your Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Provence vacation. | |
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