Fontaine de Vaucluse - a Jewel in the Mountains

In any list of the most important inventions ever, the printing press and our old buddy, Johannes Gutenberg, almost always get top billing.  THE most important. . . but did you ever think what Johan would have done if no one had invented paper??  Up until that time, most books were hand-made using vellum or some form of flax or linen or whatever - certainly not practical if you're going to get into producing books on your spanking new press.  

When Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid-1500's (dates vary), there were approximately 20,000 books in the known world.  Fifty years later, at the turn of the century, there were 10,000,000!!  Somebody had to come up with paper - a whole lot of it - and here at Vaucluse we learned about the ancient art of paper making.  They've been making paper here for centuries, and the process is absolutely fascinating.

And it's not all that different from paper-making today - but a whole lot less smelly (if you've ever lived or traveled in the rural American South, you know what I mean).  You start with wood (usually a soft variety), which is pounded into pulp, dried, strained, and pulverized into a fine slurry mix that can be put onto a wire grid, dried, and peeled off!  Simple enough, right?  Sure beats skinning a cow, tanning the hide, then somehow peeling off a thin layer without tearing it, and cutting it to size.

But I get ahead of myself.  Vaucluse is an ancient site (but still a thriving town) where paper has been made commercially since the late 15th century.  Now, of course, it's ornamental/artisanel paper but the original mill still operates in the same old way, powered by water (which flows at an astonishing 35 cubic meters per second) . . .

. . . which is diverted over a wheel . . . 

. . . which drives another set of wheels . . . .

. . . which power a series of wooden pistons which pound away at the paper pulp (think 'kapockata, kapockata, kapockata').

Photographs inside the paper museum were forbidden, but we did get to watch a craftsman dipping a screen form (about 12"square) into a barrel of slurry, gently moving the slurry over the screen, removing the excess water, setting the screen to dry for less than a minute, and then peeling off a gorgeous, hand-made piece of paper.  10,000,000 books?  No problem!

This town goes back to the Romans, authenticated by the fact that Roman coins have been found in the tidal pools way up this mountain.

We hike up . . .

The pool with Roman coins is at the very bottom of this rock face, but I was not about to climb over the barrier to check it out!

Then this lovely surprise - the Church of St.Vernan.  St. Who??  Turns out he was a local hermit and revered by the locals and canonized sometime around the 12th century.  Based on the height of this doorframe, we figure he was also a very short guy (but I guess pretty much everyone in those days was short).

The sarcophagus with his remains . . .

A Roman column from the original structure . . .circa 3rd century AD.

And one of our favorite structures, a museum built into the rock.

And no day of French touring is complete without a photo of our lunch!  Today's fare is a lovely omelet, with salad and French fries.

This is an absolutely delightful town, recommended to us by our host and hostess, Patrice and Laurence.  Thank you - we've loved our visit here.

The Saintes Maries de la Mer

Directly south of Arles is an area of Provence known as the Camargue.  I'd stumbled on some information about its history and was intrigued to know more.  Most of it is a Parc Naturel (Nature Park) - protected and inaccessible - with a very popular seaside resort at its eastternmost tip, Saintes Maries de la Mer.

Three Marys (including the Magdalene and two close relatives of Jesus and his mother) fled Judea in the early part of the first century because of persecution and landed here at the mouth of the Rhone.  Disciples followed shortly thereafter, made their way up the Rhone Valley, and this part of France was the first to convert to Christianity.  The Marys remained here and converted the local folk including members of a tribe of dark-skinned people, now believed to be Roma.  Their chief was a woman named Sara, and she led the move to Christianize her tribe.

Current day gypsies revere Saint Sara and each year, in May and October, gypsies from all over the region gather here to pay homage to her.  The ceremonies include a reenactment of their arrival and an elaborate procession of the reliquaries from the local church.  We're disappointed the church is closed, and we missed the October festivities by a week!

The beach at Sts Maries . . .

The Parc is a birdwatchers paradise; the flamingoes are totally impervious to our presence and we're surprised at their quasi-whiteness . . .

One of the reasons I was intrigued by the Camargue were the bands of wild horses, most of them this pure white.  They are protected - much like the ponies of Chincoteague on Maryland's eastern shore - although many of them have been domesticated and form the core of Camargue tourism:  horseback rides through the parc.

We were stunned by their beauty!

A little dapple grey mixed in there . . .

A quick stop at one of the riding establishments and an attempt to photograph the local tack.  (A two-hour walk at 40 euros each doesn't grab either of us.)  Most of it appears to be some sort of local hybrid design with a heavy English/Australian influence.  Note the American western saddle on the right (John Wayne lives in the south of France)!

Before heading home, we decide to visit the other (westernmost) tip of the Camargue and surprise, surprise, we need to take a ferry across the Rhone to get there!  We could drive all the way around but what the heck, this is our first car ferry ride this trip . . .

The ferry holds all of about 10 vehicles and takes about 5 minutes to make the crossing . . . now this is a river!!

Not much to see at this other point:  a big deep water port which we later learn is the new Marseilles.  Seems the dockworkers in Marseilles, just a few km distant, got exceptionally greedy (everybody's unionized in France), and the shippers put up with it for just so long and then said 'Enough!' (in French, of course).  The French government built a new port facility, and all the shippers moved their operations here.

Lovely, lovely day touring the Camargue . . . 

Avignon - Half a Day is Enough

Avignon is a short drive to the north of us, and we decide to take Rick Steves's advice and allot it a half day.  Turns out that was another of his spot on recommendations.  The big attraction is the Palace of the Popes; we're OD'd on palaces by now and content ourselves with a walk-by.

(Why do popes need palaces anyway?)

Just up a bit is a lovely park where we sit,  have a baguette sandwich, and people watch.

This is an odd city.  It appears to be very upscale; lots of expensive shops; even more expensive restaurants (hence, the baguette sandwiches); and a disturbing number of homeless people.  I think that is more distressing to us than anything else . . . we have seen so little of that on this trip.

One of the charming streets as you enter through the gates into the old town.

A little park in the center of town.

One of the best things about being a tourist in Avignon is the free off-site parking and free navettes that drop you right at the city walls.

Check off Avignon - thanks for the tip Rick!