Updated , by the owners of the villa.
The spring
A quarter of an hour from the villa, the Sorgue emerges from the ground at the foot of a cliff more than two hundred metres high. It is the largest resurgence in France: it drains the waters of the Ventoux, the Vaucluse hills and the Albion plateau, for an average flow of about 18 m³ per second.
The chasm only overflows after heavy rain, mainly in autumn, winter and spring. In summer it is a still pool, with no overflow: what changes from one season to the next is the regime of the spring, not the volume it carries.
Allow 600 metres on foot from the place de la Colonne, fifteen to twenty minutes on a sloping, stony path poorly suited to pushchairs. Since 2025 a gate has closed the approach at the foot of the cliff because of rockfall risk: viewing is from a little further downstream.
On the way, the Vallis Clausa paper mill can be visited freely and without charge: rag paper is still made there in the manner of the fifteenth century, waterwheel included.
Canoeing down the Sorgue
The standard run links Fontaine-de-Vaucluse to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue: eight kilometres, about two hours, with no technical difficulty and no experience required. Several operators run a shuttle back.
Navigation is governed by prefectural order: it is permitted from 15 May to 15 October, 9.30 am to 6 pm. Each operator then has its own season, often shorter. Reckon on €25 to €30 per adult, about half that for a child.
The water stays between 12 and 14 °C, August included. A buoyancy aid is compulsory and you must be able to swim. Trips are suspended when the flow drops too low in late summer.
The Sorgue in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
The river rings the old centre and still turns what remains of the waterwheels: some fifteen are visible from the street, survivors of the paper mills, spinning mills and oil mills the town lived on. An hour’s walk covers them.
A kilometre and a half from the centre, the Partage des Eaux is where the Sorgue splits into two arms under the plane trees. Open access all year, picnic tables, a few terraces by the water. Parking is charged from May to September, free the rest of the year and early in the morning.
Swimming is banned by municipal order along the whole stretch through L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and in most of the riverside communes: the water stays between 12 and 14 °C all year, the bed is uneven, and the banks belong to the riparian owners.
