The shop · the story
A small room in a market town.
L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is sometimes called “the Venice of Provence” by people who have never been to Venice. There are five canals, a Sunday market that takes over the whole town, and more antique dealers per square metre than almost anywhere in Europe. I opened Maison Clouet on a small street behind the bookshop because I wanted somewhere I could close the door and unpack what I’d just found.
I grew up between Lyon and a grandmother’s farmhouse near Lourmarin. She kept things — not in a hoarder way, in a respectful way. Linen sheets washed thin enough to read through. Three different sizes of brass mortar. A drawer of buttons by colour. When she passed, helping clear her house was the first time I understood that an object can hold a whole century in it if you let it.
Maison Clouet is one room. About 28 square metres. White lime-washed walls, terracotta floor, one big oak table from the 1880s that we use as the central display. I source within roughly an hour’s drive — Cavaillon, Apt, Gordes, Avignon, the villages around the Luberon. I won’t tell you all the spots. Some of them I share with two other dealers and we have an agreement.
Address
14 rue de la République
84800 L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
France
43.9189° N, 5.0518° E
Hours
Thu — Sat10h — 18h
Sunday9h — 14h market
Mon — Wedby appointment
How to find us
From Place de la Liberté, take rue de la République towards the river. Look for Librairie du Village. Walk in, past poetry, out the back into the courtyard. Green door on the left.