L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue / Robion

Between L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Robion, the Via Venaissia cycle route hasn’t yet been completed at time of writing. L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a place you won’t be able to resist stopping at. A year-round magnet for antiques collectors, its weekly Sunday market offers a wonderful display of provençal colours, scents and tastes. This enchanting place hones all the senses! From town, a link via road shared with motorized traffic enables you to join up with the Méditerranée à Vélo cycle route at the level of Robion, a key junction for cyclists crossing the Luberon region. From there, you have the option of riding on all the way to Menton (a Mediterranean resort on the French-Italian border), or then continuing on a Provence-based cycling circuit, going via Cavaillon, the foot of the steep little Alpilles Range, Beaucaire and Avignon, making use of the ViaRhôna cycle route. Along the way, there’s an additional detour you can make to Lagnes, a pretty medieval village on the slopes of the Monts de Vaucluse, the little range located between Luberon and Mont Ventoux. Lagnes offers a main entry point to the extraordinary Mur de la Peste (Plague Wall), a 27km-long rampart built along the Monts de Vaucluse in a vain attempt to protect the Comtat Venaissin region from a terrible outbreak of the plague in the 18th century, this Grande Peste (Great Plague) estimated, roughly, to have killed one in four people across Provence. This epidemic was evoked by famed regional writer Marcel Pagnol (he of the renowned provençal novels Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, turned into famous films) in an unfinished work, Les Pestiférés (The Plague-stricken).

The route

From L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, follow signage for the link to Lagnes - Robion along roads shared with motorized traffic. You need to take care crossing the busy RD900, at a junction that it isn’t suitable to tackle with young cyclists. This link is only provisional, awaiting the development of a safter cycling route along this stretch. For the link to the Méditerannée à Vélo cycle route, consult: https://www.veloloisirprovence.com/page/liaison-robion-lagnes-isle-sur-la-sorgue 

Don't miss

• L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue : 
  The Sentier du Partage des Eaux, a trail along the north bank of the Sorgue with explanatory signs revealing much about the clear turquoise waters of this exceptional river, plus you’ll find many terraces along the way, as well as many locals appreciating the refreshing path:
  https://www.provenceguide.com/equipements/isle-sur-la-sorgues/sentier-dinterpretation-du-partage-des-eaux/provence-4761105-1.html  // https://fondationvilladatris.fr/  // 
  Musée Brun de Vian Tiran: la Filaventure - https://www.lafilaventure.com/ to learn all about the art of fabric-making, French style! 
  The Village des Antiquaires on l'île aux Brocantes, for a whole variety of antiques stalls and art galleries: https://www.levillagedesantiquairesdelagare-nouvelvag.com/  -