A winding path led us ever deeper into a box canyon behind which steep chalky-looking cliffs rose meters high. But by the time we covered the 30 kilometers the rain had stopped. The road ended at the tiny village Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, from which we took the footpath further into the canyon.
Suddenly we faced the canyon wall and realized we could go no further. Below us, water gushed forth from a thousand different springs and cracks in the cliff. No gentle spring is the Fontaine, but rather an instant river.
It is the biggest spring in France, and the fifth largest in the world with an annual flow of million cubic meters. It has been home to humans since the Neolithic era and was part of a trade route used by the Phoenicians and later the Romans. Some of the water flows out of caves under the cliffs and it is said that many divers have tried and failed to find the bottom of these flooded caves. There was a hermit who lived there in the Middle Ages. This guy allegedly performed some miracles inventing the recipe for trout almondine for instance and this led to his being consecrated as the first Bishop of Cavaillon.
He then had to let some other guys join him probably all fly fishers and a monastery was built. Lingering over a bottle of a local Rhone red, with fresh baked bread, cheese and fruit, I looked forward to my second day in Provence, which I had scheduled with a local guide who had agreed to take me fishing. Locally, the fishing has been very good off the Sonoma coast for rock and lingcod, but not so good for salmon.
Still, Capt. Rick Powers is taking out anglers on combo trips every day, and there is a good chance to hook a salmon or two, while also bringing home nice limits of rocks and lings. Call Rick at to book a trip. Striped bass fishing has been hot on San Francisco Bay this week with anglers finding fish all over and especially near Angle Island, Alcatraz and the Berkeley Flats.
