A rare occurrence happened today. I got up before the sun. It was very beautiful and peaceful. My motivation was to try and capture this gorgeous town we are staying in the early morning light, so with camera and tripod in hand I headed up the hill to the castle ruins and the windmill. It was lovely. The swallows were darting about catching breakfast and the countryside was covered in a warm glow.
I took a few shots then headed into town to try and capture some of the buildings in the dawn light, and also before the owners woke up and parked themselves at the front door for the day (the town has a lot of elderly people that sit and watch the day go by). It was also market day so at the end of my wandering around town all the stall holders were busy setting up their stalls and the town took on a whole new lively feel from its peaceful dawn start.
It was a great morning and I discovered areas of the town I had not yet explored with Heather during our evening walks. We have been going for the odd evening walk after dinner as well. Heather has been having trouble getting to sleep due to the heat and her bedroom having no curtains (it gets dark about 9pm) so we've been going for a walk to try and help her sleep. The town is not big but there are lots of tunnels and little winding lanes that start in one direction then lead you in another so it is fun to explore.
I enjoyed my morning walk and got home with enough time for a quick peek at the market and to buy our lunch baguette while Heather was finishing her school work before our day's adventure. Heather, Callum and I left Neil at home to try and catch up on a heat-induced sleepless night and headed for Fontaine de Vaucluse, a small town with a lot of history.
The main thing I wanted to see was a spring that had the largest flow of water (in the world I think) and is the source of the river Sorge. Water flows from a big hole in the ground immediately creating a crystal clear river. We found the path to the spring by following the stream of tourists and walked in the midday heat to find that the water level was so low that all you could see was a big hole. We all enjoyed the walk up though as it was beside the river which is stunning and shaded by a huge cliff face that the spring is directly beneath. I got the idea but used a postcard to show the kids what it would look like if we had not have visited during the driest month of the year. We then stopped for an ice-cream and headed for the second attraction I wanted to see which was the paper mill powered by a water wheel using the flow of water from the spring. The kids thought this was really cool, making paper from the power of water. It was a lovely visit with the kids seeing their excitement at the crystal clear river and it's water wheels. After returning home and having lunch, the temperature had dropped a little so we all went for a refreshing swim at the local pool. It had been hot and humid so the cool pool was perfect. Tomorrow I explore my last two provincial villages of Seguret and Venasque.
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