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Yesterday – our last day in Provence – we ticked off the last of the Vaucluse villages on our list to see near our base at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

 

Only the French could make eggs look like a work of art

 

Thursday market day in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

 

Anticipating spring

 

After coffee in the sun and a tour around our last market day at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Thursday’s market seems to be more a down-to-earth market for the locals than the Sunday extravaganza) we drive 15 minutes to Saumane-de-Vaucluse.

This small but sweet village is perched on a rock, has a small Romanesque church, cobbled streets and drystone buildings and is just a few kilometres from Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.

 

We have to leave the Chateau de Saumane to our imagination

 

It is probably best known for the Chateau de Saumane which was the home of the Marquis de Sade as a child when he stayed with his uncle between 1745 and 1750. We would have lived to see inside but like many things at this time of the year it was shut for the season.

 

A bonus was finding a burie near the Chateau de Saumane

On leaving the village, little pathways lead to the pine and oak forests.

We have taken the precaution of bringing some ready made baguettes and tart for lunch which is just as well. We are drawn back to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (our third visit) to sit by the river for our lunch and take in the beautiful scenery of the river Sorgue, mountains, trees in their final Autumn stages and the chateau high on a cliff top.

A glass of rosé from a tiny cafe is all we need.

 

The river Sorgue leads us back to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

Back we head to our apartment for our last night at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue after a memorable three weeks. We go to Paris today for three nights before flying back home to Sydney after an absence of two and a half years.

Footnote: A treat was in store for us later that night in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue when we unexpectedly joined the locals out celebrating Beaujolais Nouveau Day at Cafe de France.