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More
town than village, with tall plane trees and green streams,
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is 'the island on the Sorgue'
a few kilometres from the river's source at Fontaine de
Vaucluse.
Where
the Sorgue splits into two streams, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
sprang up. Over the last 40 years L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue has
become famous as the antiques capital of Provence, indeed
of France, if you don't count Paris.
There
are many permanent antique shops, art galleries and interior
décor shops here, grouped in several 'villages'.
On
Sunday morning the place becomes an orgy of antiques and
bric-a-brac stalls, about 300 in all. This is the time to
visit, when the streets are thronging with colour and life
- not too many bargains it must be said - and grab a table
for lunch when things wind down at 12.30.
There
are all sorts of places to eat in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue -
cafes, brasseries, pizzerias and quality restaurants. See
the restaurant reviews page
for reviews of the simple Casa
di Paolo at one end of the scale, and the excellent
Jardin
du Quai at the other.
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
and water
This
is the current face of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, but it doesn't
tell you anything about how the town came about. That is
all down to the crystal-clear, emerald water that flows
through it, shallow and calm enough that you can see the
trout lazing in the sun, but powerful enough to have brought
industry, wealth, and the accumulations of architecture
and populace that come with wealth.
The
water wheels you see around town are testimony to the textile
and paper-making industries that thrived in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue,
and the grand mansions dotted around town were the homes
of the rich merchants that benefited from the power of the
river.
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
actually has the nickname 'The Provencal Venice' - this
is overstating the abundance of waterways, but the various
parts of the Sorgue are never far away. And no matter what
time of year you dip your toe into the river, it will always
be 13 degrees C (55 degrees F), which is the temperature
it shoots out of the earth at in nearby Fontaine de Vaucluse.
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| Cafe
de France, Isle sur la Sorgue |
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
is a pleasant walking town. There are a few modern eyesores
clumped together, but the bars and cafes retain their authenticity,
little footbridges take you over the water, and narrow,
winding streets tunnel into the old centre of town, and
the courtyards lined with antiquaires.
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| Church
of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Isle sur la Sorgue. |
Right
in the middle of the old town is a rather overly gilded
church, dare I say gaudy - Notre-Dame-des-Anges - but it's
a good venue for classical concerts on summer evenings,
which you can combine with an al fresco dinner in the square.
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Not
just antiques at the market, tempting local produce
too.
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