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Start : Car Park in front of the cemetery of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. (Along D100A)
(S/E) Go down the road (D100A) towards Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. In the second bend, take the Rue de la Combe to the left (a housing estate), then at the second junction, after number 68, turn right. At the end of the road, turn left.
A little further on, the road becomes a dirt track to the right. Take it and then turn immediately left (there is a “private property” sign at the start of the track but the entry to the property is a little further on).
(1) In front of the chain blocking access to the private property, take the path to the right. At the first junction, carry straight on along the path. At the second, bear left, and then shortly afterwards right. Carry on up until you reach an intersection with a dirt road (a cycle route with magenta markings and a long-distance footpath (GRP®) waymarked in yellow and red).
Carry straight on and then immediately left on the track parallel to the long-distance path. Note the magnificent stone hut (borie) by the side of the track. You may then continue on the track or return to the long-distance path: the two converge later (after around 350 m). Go past the ruins by the edge of the waymarked path and continue on the main path.
(2) At the next junction, stay on the waymarked path. On the right, observe a hill topped with a drystone rampart. This is the gallo-roman village (oppidum) of Bondelon, but you will have to carry on past it. At the signpost “Bondelon”, head right towards Galas and then follow the yellow waymarks as far as the canal (around 1Km). Note the terraced olive groves.
(3) Cross the canal on a stone bridge and follow it to the right as far as the aqueduct. Cross the River Sorgue and enjoy the view from the aqueduct, then carry on along the canal to the first bridge (around 500 m).
(4) Cross the canal by this bridge then continue straight on along the most obvious path as far as a T-junction at a fairly wide track. Head up the track to the right and at the top, veer left.
(5) Stay on the main track until you arrive at a fork with large dead trees on the ground. Take the track which passes round them on the right. After a few metres, a cairn at the foot of a pine indicates the track to the right down into the Vallon des Baumes Noires. Drop down to the junction at the bottom of the valley and turn right.
(6) In the valley bottom, be careful not to leave the track and beware dangerous edges. You will shortly come across a well on the right, covered in rotten tree-trunks. A little further on, after the track has passed over a rock, observe a very well-preserved runoff cistern (aiguier) on the left.
After this point, the undergrowth conceals a very steep slope on the right. Do not leave the track. Shortly afterwards, you will pass private grounds on the left, with a splendid troglodytic dwelling at the cliff-edge, and will then reach the road (D25).
(7) Cross the road and continue straight on to walk onto the bridge and admire the view of the River Sorgue, then retrace your steps to the road. Follow it to the right towards Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. At the entrance to the car park, keep right on the path along the river bank as far as the end of the car park, then continue on the road as far as a staircase on the right leading down to the water’s edge. View the open-air laundry, then climb up again and continue on your way.
At the junction, turn right down a cul-de-sac. Cross a first bridge, continue to the roundabout and then cross the bridge opposite. Carry on to the left along the gravel path, becoming a dirt road until you come out at the centre of the village. Here you can stroll in the village streets or walk up to the spring (15 minutes there and back), with a pause to visit the paper mill.
(8) Next cross the Sorgue, noting the water-wheel. Then bear right along the Sorgues walkway to follow the river, to the factory chimney of the old paper mill. Take the stairs to join the Avenue François Pétrarque, then head right, along the edge of the road.
At the first junction, continue on the lower road (signpost "Les Bastides", towards Galas). Just before the second junction, climb the steps to the left to a wash-house and then join the Gordes tourist road. Stay on this road to rejoin your vehicle (S/E).
Walker
Difficult 
Moderate 
