A few days ago, I suggested my art history professor to visit one of the most spectacular village in the Luberon region where we can see paper being made through machines from hundreds of years ago rather than seeing an ordinary cathedral in another village.

As we drove through the Luberon region, we followed the street signs saying “Fontaine de Vaucluse.”  The minute we approached a giant bridge, we could see water in the most gorgeous color, turquoise, running down the stream.  We followed the river, la Sorgue, and once we hit the end of the river, we came across a very breathtaking scene that caused everyone in the car to say “Woooooaaaaah!”  Mountains raised above the land in the backdrop.  Green leaves adorn the rocky mountains.  Little simple buildings rest along both sides of the river.  Red leaves sit over the fences on the patios.  A wheel by the river stands motionless.  In spite of a large number of clouds in the sky, the sun peaks through and shines the entire village.

Fontaine de Vaucluse is the place where the river, la Sorgue, commences.  What’s absolutely fascinating about this river as not only it has one of the freshest water in the world, but also, no one knows from where the water is coming.

After having parked the car, we walked up the hill to visit Moulin à Papier, a museum and a shop displaying paper made from machines that were built hundreds of years ago.  Right by the museum, we could see water rushing down the stream in a speed of a bullet creating white splashes.  The students and the professor were in a complete awe of the scene.

After spending few moments admiring the scenery, we headed to the museum where we could see machines used to make paper.

Paper displayed in the shop were not ordinary paper that we would see in Office Max or Office Depot.  They were paper with real treasures inside them.  There were flowers inside some of the paper creating a lovely aroma.  Some had leaves inside them and some others had confetti.  One set of papers even had scraps from jeans.  The edges had unclean cut, but imperfect things are beautiful.  The paper also had a rough texture creating a value to the sense of touch.

As we were heading back to school, I asked students for their thoughts on Fontaine de Vaucluse.