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FRANCE | The Vaucluse, France Travel Guide
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
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Fontaine de Vaucluse
Fontaine de Vaucluse, France (cc)
Photo: Joseph Plotz
Fontaine de Vaucluse
Fontaine de Vaucluse is a scenic, museum-filled village on the site of one of the most powerful natural springs in the world. It is located in a dramatic closed valley, vallis clausa in Latin (the origin of the name Vaucluse), surrounded by towering limestone bluffs and steep, stony hills. The Italian poet Petrarch, who lived here in the 14th century pining for his muse, made the “Fontaine” world famous. One of the town’s more interesting museums (and there are seven rather good ones here) is The Petrarch Museum and Library, which commemorates him. There is also a glass-blowing museum, the Cristallerie des Papes, and the Moulin à Papier Vallis Clausa, a paper mill that demonstrates how water power has been used here for papermaking since the 15th century. Shops in the Vallis Clausa Covered Arcade are geared to souvenir hunters but offer a good selection of gifts.
Last updated February 7, 2012
Posted in France | The Vaucluse
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