Isle sur la Sorgue Antiques Fair

Part 1 – Isle sur la Sorgue Antiques Fair   Looking for that perfect Louis XV chair, or 18th century chest for your Paris apartment or country home? Or perhaps some charming “brocante” to add some authentic French touches to your home back in the States? Then be sure to visit the lovely Vaucluse town of Isle sur la Sorgue during one of its internationally known biannual antiques fairs, one during Easter, the other mid-August.   This April, my husband and I, during a month-long visit to this region of Provence, had the chance to rub shoulders with some serious antique merchants, connoisseurs, and shoppers. We hadn’t come for the antiques fair. We’d chosen this pastoral Vaucluse valley region for its location; it is a short drive from scenic villages of the Luberon Mountains but more sheltered from cool April winds. From our rented home in the village of Saumane de Vaucluse, we enjoyed a terrace view of rolling hills, vineyards, and flowering orchards. The chance to join in with the spectacle of this international antiques fair in the neighboring town of Isle sur la Sorgue (five kilometers away, and our daily marketing place) was an unexpected bonus.   Isle sur la Sorgue is situated on a small island, surrounded by two arms of the Sorgue River, a branch of the Rhone. Originally a fishing village, and still popular for its trout fishing, it is criss-crossed by several canals and dotted with scenic waterwheels.  The town acquired a second reputation as an antiques center in the 1970s, when the second home market in Provence was revving up. Filled with antiques shops, the town is the site of a weekly Sunday morning local antiques market. Two weekends a year, at Easter and mid-August, the town also hosts a gathering of over 300 local and visiting antiques and flea market merchants who display period furniture, paintings, Provence table and bed linens, and assorted “brocante” and “not-quite-antique” furnishings.      We were advised by the friendly townspeople that the upcoming Easter fair was an event not to be missed. We headed into town the morning of the first day of the four-day long fair, a Friday. The town does an excellent job of setting up auxiliary parking areas for the thousands of visitors. The international reach of the event was evident from the display of foreign license plates and from the street noise, a mix of French, German, Italian, and British.     For us, not “vrais connaisseurs” of antiques, the event was a great opportunity to browse and be part of a meeting of the past and the present in a venue off the strictly tourist agenda. Although we would be heading back to New York shortly and like to travel light, we did pick up a few small items to serve as mementos of our trip. And if we ever join the ranks of Provence home owners, I will know where to head to furnish in style and pick up a few bargains.   Part 2 – Musee d’ Histoire 1939-1945, Fontaine de Vaucluse   Another memorable part of our trip was a visit to the Museum of the History of 1939-1945, “The Call to Liberty,” in the nearby town of Fontaine de Vaucluse. This small village is the source of the Sorgue River. The source, a dramatic convergence of several underground streams that spew forth from rocks at the base of a cliff, giving rise to an emerald river, is worth the visit itself. Guide books warn of the hordes of tourists that arrive in summer and of a long riverside stretch of tacky cafes and souvenir shops. In April, crowds were not a problem, and we had the chance to dine in one of several lovely riverside restaurants that are located downstream of the source and in the old village.    Our chief interest was to visit the museum, opened in 1990. The museum’s exposition, initiated from a private collection, includes over 10,000 objects, photographs, artwork, and documents that provide a testimony to daily life in the Vaucluse region from 1939-1945. It documents the reach of the collaborationist Vichy government, and the active Resistance movement in the Vaucluse during World War II, bringing the war and liberation of the region vividly to life.    The first floor of the museum presents reconstructed scenes and rooms from everyday village life, along with photographs, newspaper headlines, Vichy government documents, and a very interesting collection of that government’s propaganda posters. The museum’s second story presents a fascinating outline of the German occupation of the region from 1942 and the emergence of a very active Resistance campaign. A short documentary film provides an overview, and other displays highlight the stories, photographs, and tools used by the men and women of the Vaucluse Resistance. It also highlights events surrounding the free French and Allied liberation of Provence 60 years ago this August.     The museum exposition is in French only. However, for anyone with a basic understanding of and interest in the events of these years–including my non-Francophone husband, who moved through the exposition ahead of my slower pace–this visit was a most moving and rewarding one.     Isle sur la Sorgue (populations 18,000) and Fontaine de Vaucluse (population <1,000), approximately 25-30 kilometers east of Avignon, are in the Sorgue Department of Vaucluse. The local tourism office (website: www.ot-islesurlasorgue.fr, in French and English), provides useful information about the region’s shops, restaurants, markets, fairs, museums, and tourist sites. The Musee D’Histoire in Fontaine de Vaucluse (tel. 04 90 20 24 00) is open year-round; group visits can be arranged in advance. Ann Carroll is a biomedical research professional who is active in freelance writing and policy work in the medical and health fields. She and her husband travel extensively, with frequent trips to Paris and other regions of France, a long-time favorite destination. When not traveling, they split their time between homes in New York City and eastern Long Island.