L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Provence, France
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a town on the river Sorgue in Provence, in southeastern France. This small town is famous for its many antique shops and is a place where almost every Sunday held a flea. It has many cafes and restaurants placed directly on the water, located in a short distance from each other. There are many interesting water wheels in the town, which are still operational. Town is located only a few kilometers from Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, and therefore both these interesting places can be easily visited in one day.
Parkings in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
The town is well equipped with parking lots. There are at least three large parking lots: at the railway station (P1; GPS: 43.917864, 5.046197), and on both sides of the Parc Municipal Gautier - P2; GPS: 43.917148, 5.050145 and P3; GPS: 43.917166, 5.053671, not to mention a number of smaller places where you can leave your car. But no wonder - it is the center of antique trade, so a lot of people come here during the fair.
The Old Town
We start our stroll at the nearest water wheel located in a small park just on the other side of the Avenue des Quatre Otages street (A; GPS: 43.918542, 5.053935). Then we go along the La Sorgue river towards the Espl. Robert Vasse promenade. We cross the bridge (B; GPS: 43.918052, 5.052553) and then we are already in the old town. We head to the center, where we find the thirteenth-century church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges (C; GPS: 43.919818, 5.051851) with a beautiful interior, large paintings, sculptures, murals, and a unique altar with a height of 15 meters. Then we follow the Rue Raspail street and we are out of the old town on Quai Jean Jaures. We then follow it along the river, and then go to the Quai Rouget de l'Isle, where we find another water wheel (D; GPS: 43.917993, 5.049804). Of course, walking route may be different - the town is full of narrow streets and interesting buildings, thus visitors for sure will find something interesting for themselves.
While our return to the parking lot we notice a very interesting building (E; GPS: 43.916923, 5.051373) standing alone in the park. It turns out that it is "Le château Giraud" - a rich burgher house built in 1885 in Gautier park. The building really does impress with its fairytale appearance.
Antiques
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a paradise for the collectors of the art - about 300 antique dealers work here permanently. You can often find special flea markets, where the collectors come not only from France, but also from abroad. This takes place, for example, at Easter and during the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 15th).
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