France River Sorgue Bike Trek

Cafe in L’Isle sur la Sorgue

From our base in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon we took the regional train to L’Isle sur la Sorgue, from where we started our day of cycling. L‘Isle sur la Sorgue is a charming provencal town on the Sorgue river. The rushing river and canals make it a delightful town to explore. The working water wheels along the river are unique. The town is famous for its antiques market and many antique shops.

We found a bike rental shop not too far from the train station. The owner had a limited command of english, and my awful french is even more limited. However I managed to secure two bikes for me and my daughter and I, so we were set to begin our adventure.

Stephanie at the Cafe de France

First stop was to fuel up with cappuccino and croissants at the appropriately named Cafe de France. Then we were off. By this time the people of L’Isle sur la Sorgue were awake and out and about, so there was bit of traffic. Once we left the outskirts of town the cycling was quite pleasant.

Our next stop was the enchanting Fontaine de Vaucluse. Here is the source of the River Sorgue, a powerful spring, the fountain of Vaucluse, situated at the feet of a steep cliff. It is the biggest spring in France. The water of the Sorgue is a beautiful emerald green color. I have never seen anything quite like this river. After a stroll through the village it was back on the bike.

The terrain became hilly and the cycling much more challenging. We also started to feel raindrops. By the time we came to the village Cabrières-d’Avignon it was raining. We ducked in to the covered entrance of an old church to wait out the storm. The storm became a heavy down pour, so we waited for it to pass. The original plan was to cycle to the hilltop town of Gordes before turning around. With the darkening skies we decided to head back to the bike shop.

Fontaine de Vaucluse

On the way back to Fontaine de Vaucluse it began raining hard again. We got drenched, oh well. We stopped at a cafe Fontaine de Vaucluse to have lunch and dry out. Then it was back to L’Isle sur la Sorgue to return the bikes.

The adventure was not quite over however. We discovered it was another french holiday, the train station office was closed. We did not have a way to purchase our return train tickets. We hopped on the train back to Villeneuve anyway; hopefully we could purchase a ticket on the train. ( I do not recommend this. )No one came around checking for a ticket so the ride back was free. A wonderful day of exploring by bicycle!