Indirectly, sleepy little Orange has also given its name to a
widely-spread political and religious organisation of some
influence.
Vaucluse, most charming of places, in its narrow leafy valley,
surrounded by towering cliffs, is celebrated as having been the
home of Petrarch for sixteen years during the thirteen hundreds.
We may hope that his worshipped Laura sometimes brightened his
home there with her presence. The famous Fountain of Vaucluse
rushes out from its cave a full-grown river. It wastes no time in
infant frivolities, but settles down to work at once, turning a
mill within two hundred yards of its birthplace.
Avignon is another somnolent spot. The gigantic and gloomy Palace
of the Popes dominates the place, though it is far more like a
fortress than a palace. Here the Popes lived from 1309 to 1377
during their enforced abandonment of Rome, and Avignon remained
part of the Papal dominions until the French Revolution. The
President took less interest in the Palace of the Popes than he
did in a famous cook at one of the Avignon hotels.
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