A little ancient history

Sunday 21 September

Our lovely village house overlooks the main square of Sablet so all the comings and goings of the village cannot be missed.  This morning at 6 am we were woken to the sounds of banging and chatter and it was barely daylight.  Of course, it is "vide grenier" in Sablet this morning - the words mean "empty the attic" - what we would call a car boot sale. The whole square and the streets around were filled with stall holders unloading their wares and setting up shop.  By 7 am the first customers were browsing the rather motley collections of offerings - mostly used toys, crockery and other household items, books, and clothing.   Gerri and I eventually joined the throng of people who seemed to be looking but not buying very much.  I have certainly seen vide greniers with more unique and interesting items on sale.  Nevertheless everyone seemed to be having a good time and the cafes and boulangeries were doing a roaring trade. A good place to come for some cheap gear for the house or for the kids!

View of the vide grenier from our terrace

Today we had an appointment to meet up with Gerri's friends from Melbourne who are staying in Avignon for a few days so mid-morning we set off for Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, about an hour away.  Our GPS was not very cooperative so we had a couple of navigation whoopsies en route - no biggie though as we allowed ourselves plenty of time to reach this touristy but very pretty riverside village located at the source of the Sorges River.  Fontaine-de-Vaucluse has for many centuries been a rather mystical place situated beneath high limestone cliffs - there is a ruined castle on one of the peaks.  At the base of the cliffs is a huge cave and it is from here that the crystal clear waters of the river emerge and tumble down through the forest and rocks to the town.  From the centre of town there is a lovely riverside walk to view this cave and it is a very popular site for Sunday outings and tourists (lots of restaurants and souvenir shops in town). The sonnet writer Petrach lived here in the 14th Century.

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

We met Romain, Craig and TJ by the bridge in the centre of town - they had come by bus from nearby Avignon and had spent the morning walking some of the trails around the town.  We chose a very pleasant riverside restaurant for a nice three course menu lunch and lots of chat and reminiscing (well for Gerri and the guys).  They were really great company and it was a pleasure to meet them.

Riverside restaurants, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

With our leisurely lunch done we strolled the short distance to the cave and then decided to drive to see the Roman aqueduct, Pont du Gard, which is to the west of Avignon - about an hour away from Fontaine.

Riverside walk, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

We crossed the Rhone River on the Europa Bridge at Avignon from which there are splendid views of the city, then made our way to the valley of the River Gardon and the huge parking lot on the Rive Gauche.  To our surprise it was very full even though it was almost 5 in the afternoon, but we soon discovered that this weekend is a festival of "European Patrimony" at the site, attracting many visitors - perhaps because the usual 18 euro fee for 1 car plus 5 people had been waived.  The was a huge photographic display of "grands sites" - of France, of nature, of the world etc - and of course Pont-du-Gard is one of these sites.  The infrastructure buildings at the site are very modern and well secluded - after passing through them there is a side path through the trees to the edge of the river and the first view of this mighty feat of engineering.

Pont-du-Gard

 Not only is the aqueduct beautiful architecturally, but it is also awe-inspiring in its size and age - it is part of the 50 km long Nimes aqueduct and dates from around 40 - 60 AD.  How ever did they build something like this without heavy machinery, computers etc?  The arches are huge and perfect and the slabs of stone are gargantuan.  The whole structure is 150 metres high and 275 metres in length, spanning the whole river valley.

View from the Right Bank

We walked across to the other side, enjoying the views downstream and getting rather warm in the late afternoon sun.

View from the Pont

 Soon it was time to head back so after a surprisingly good cup of coffee we drove back to Avignon ( again with a few GPS hiccups) and said good bye to our Melburnian companions who like us had enjoyed the day immensely.  Leaving Avignon was very slow because of heavy traffic, but once away from the city we had a speedy and uneventful trip back to Sablet in the fading light.  The weather looks good for the coming week and we have certainly picked a lovely part of Provence to explore!