Fontaine de Vaucluse

The picturesque village of Fontaine de Vaucluse is a place that looks straight out of a postcard. The village's name is a perfect representation of its essence: a spring of pure, bubbling water emanating from the heart of the earth, adding a note of freshness and vibrancy to the spectacular surroundings.

At the end of a deep green gorge, at the foot of a formidable cliff sculpted by erosion, gushes the most beautiful river in the département: the Sorgue. This spring is the largest resurgence in Europe. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes bubbling and impetuous as in spring, the fountain is a veritable caprice of nature. The beauty of this natural site has moved the hearts of many writers and poets: Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chateaubriand, Frédéric Mistral, George Sand and René Char. A path runs alongside the river, guiding your steps all the way to the resurgence.

Don't miss: the remains of the 14th-century Château, accessible via a steep path, and the 11th-century church of Notre-Dame and Saint-Véran. There's also the François Pétrarque Museum-Library, the Santon Museum, the Jean Garcin History Museum: 1939-1945, "The Call of Freedom", and the Underground World Museum. And don't forget the traditional paper mill with its paddle wheel, still in operation, canoeing down the Sorgue and the 18-hole golf course nearby.