Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

After the "touristic attractions" of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse the atmosphere of the former little industrial town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (17km/10.5mi from Fontaine and 23km/14mi from Avignon) comes as a welcome relief. By the Sorgue, which divides here into several canals and reminds the visitor of Venice, 70 water-mills used to provide power for papermaking, cereal poduction, oil pressing, woolen and silk mills and a tannery. Six of the water-mills still exist and have been restored, including those on the Avenue des 4 Otages (on the edge of the park), in the Place E. Char and the Place V. Hugo. The church dates from the 17th C. and has a richly decorated interior; during the revolution the art treasures which had been confiscated were