Ile-sur-la-Sorgue, France
Friday, April 7, 2006
After Nan recovered from her shellfish incident, we were excited to get out and explore the perched villages that drew us to Provence in the first place. Most of the villages we had read about were located slightly north of our gite in the Luberon region. We started at Ile-sur-la-Sorgue, a town that is ringed by two to three canals and that contains more antique shops than any other place in France outside of Paris! Plus, it was market day. It turned out to be a beautiful town, once we found parking. Several old waterwheels remained from the silk and paper industry days. We especially enjoyed the view of the colourful outdoor restaurant seating along the canals. We had a typical lunch of grillade (a baguette or paninni sandwich that they grill for you). Ironically, we didn't darken the door of a single antique shop, because in France most shops close over lunch hour. Also, we thought that we might find some good deals on antiques in the provincial south, but actually we found things quite expensive and exploited. We also thought that the locals might be obligingly friendly compared to Paris, but actually they seemed to be a bit (understandably) tourist-weary. But we still loved the villages and considered our time priceless.
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