h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Fontaine de Vaucluse is a little village in the Haute Provence in the south of France. THe walk I'm about to describe takes about 45 minutes in total but takes in a great riverside walk, museums and a sight that should be included as on of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World but sadly isn't. The walk below is for autumn and winter. Fontaine de Vaucluse lies 30km east of Avignon. To get there, you need to take the buss from just inside the city walls in front of the train station. A return bus journey will cost you around £3.

When you get out of the bus, you'll see the river La Sourge - you want to walk against the flow of the river to get to your final destination. as you walk up the very rugged path, the hills of the region spring up around and you'll spot running through the brush various rabbits and lizards. The river is a deep emerald green and appears to invite the casualpedestrian to go for a paddle. Be warned, the water is exceptionally cold all year and diving straight in is not only discouraged but can be positively dangerous as the shock can be extreme.

The path is exceptionally rugged and starts to incline at a rather rapid rate, making this walk a tough one for the eldery or physically disabled. As you start your climb, you'll hear gushing and spewing, but this is the gem for the end of your walk. Along the way, you'll come across several museums but the two highlly recommended are the Musuem of the Resistance which chronicles the fight of the macquis (the name
given to some French Resistance groups) of the region which was ruled under Vichy France during WWII. As you come out of the musuem, take another look around the hills and you'll see the reality of the habitiat for many of the French Resistance.

As you continue up the rugged path, the rush of water is even louder but yuo still have time to take in a small musuem. The musuem of Pétrarque is dedicated to the 14th Century poet (this region of France was ruled by Italy for many years) who lived int he region. Pétrarque's most famous works are dedicated to a girl, Laura. The poet saw her from a distance, once and was immediately love struck. He never saw Laura again as she died young but Pétrarque dedicated most of his work to her. Laura is buried in the little chapel on the Rue des Teinturiers in Avignon.

Still walking up, you will come acroos an old paper mill - this is basically the same as you can see all over the world but is worth a look nonetheless. They also sell some of the paper they produce too making lovely, but tacky, gifts.

Anyway, you are now only a short distance from where you want to be... When you make the final trek up the top you'll see what appears to be a very calm lake of the deepest hue of green and blue. It is calm, eerily so but the water cascades with a thunderous aplomb - it simply takes your breath away. This is the source of La Sourge and countless expeditions shave yet to uncover just where this leads. This phenomenon only happens inthe winter. In the summer, the water drops and exposes the caverns that remain hidden for half the year. In the summer months, you can take a boat ride in the caverns. Personally I prefer to see the full power of nature rather than sit in a boat and gaze at what essentially is a cave - beautiful, yes, but still a cave.

On a personal note, when I went with a group of friends, we reached the source and climb the rock face behind it. when we reached the top, my friend Harriet got her guitar out and started singing "I'm on Top of the WOrld" by the Carpenters! Exceptionally cheesey but she did have a point.