Day 54 - L'Isle sur la Sorgue Thursday Market

L'Isle sur la Sorgue

L'Isle sur la Sorgue is literally an island in the Sorgue River—earning it the nickname “Venice of Provence”.  Its Sunday market is the largest in the Luberon area.  "Venice" + "largest market" sounded like an appealing, romantic way for Greg and I to spend a morning.  However, since moving our car from its closed Aix parking lot on a Sunday is too much trouble, we went to the town's smaller Thursday market.

We have learned that leaving early for markets is smart, and mutually agree it is worth the ease of finding a parking spot - especially here where you can drive around for a long time looking for a spot.  But opening time is not ideal shopping time for us...all the vendors are not set up yet and those that are stare at us.  So today we finally sat down to enjoy a proper French petit dejeuner.  We chose one of the two riverside cafes that were open.  Sitting along the rambling quai, being serenaded by a saxophone player, completed our breakfast experience.

Our breakfast:  cappuccinos and croissants

What a great way to start a morning!

Giving the market more time to unfold, we strolled around the small island.  The one-mile walk had a surprising amount of historic water wheels.  It is hard to believe there used to be 70 here providing power for the local industries!  

One of the handful of historic water wheels

The market definitely scores points for its location, but its Thursday market is my least favorite of all the ones we have visited so far.  Maybe I just expected it to be bigger.  

L'Isle sur la Sorgue Thursday market

How can I convince U.S. customs to let me bring back an olive plant?

Resisting my desire to buy an olive plant, instead I bought a really cool wall hanging.  Probably equally hard to get back to the U.S., but at least customs will let it through.

Our curiosity for the nougat we've seen sold all over Provence overwhelmed us, and we finally partook in the confection. We weren't expecting to like it, and actually succumbed into buying some!  The flavor we bought was "Tradition de Provence":  honey of lavender, almonds and pistachios.  A piece the size of a deck of cards set us back 5.70 euros.  

Delicious nougat

One thing I love most about our stay in Provence is the opportunity to explore new places and try new things.  Today was another memorable adventure!

Logistics:
- We parked for free in a huge dirt lot.  Turn right at the post office (and unmissable Caisse d'Epargne) and the street ends at the parking lot.  It was half full at 9:15am on a Thursday in July.  I also read that the train station is a good place to park.

Huge lot of free parking for Thursday market