What's it like to live in Provence

Most of us have heard of the beauties of Southern France's Provence and some of us have been lucky enough to have visited it. If you haven't been there before, what geographical information do you need to know if you're looking at property for sale in Provence?

Defining Provence geographically

The Alps lie to the north with the Rhône River to the west. The Mediterranean Sea is in the south and Italy lies to the east.

Provence consists of three main land types:

• famous mountains Mont Ventoux, the Luberon range and the Alpilles
• the Rhône's fertile, valley plains and
• France's and possibly, Europe's most famous wetlands national park, the Camargue.

What's the Provence weather like year round?

It's Mediterranean, so it's generally warm and dry. Rain and snow fall mainly in winter.

Key points about the weather are:

• summer temperatures can reach the mid 40s (°C) in some areas
• snow falls in high areas in winter
• in winter and spring, the Mistral visits. Whilst it's a powerful, cold northerly wind, it does drive away rain - helping to keep the area dry
• there's a high amount of daylight hours, markedly higher than northern France regions and
• in the coldest month the average day temperature ranges from 11°C-14.8°C on the coast, whereas in London this figure averages 8°C.

Key Provence towns are:

• Marseille, capital city of and largest in Provence and third largest in France
• Aix-en-Provence, Arles and Avignon and
• tiny principality, Monaco lies between Nice and Italy.

For more information on Marseilles and Aix-en-Provence, look at the World Travel Guide's Europe City Guides web page.

What about the Camargue?

Parc Naturel Régional de Camargue is the French name for France's world famous wetland area. It's Western Europe's biggest river delta - covering an area of over 930 km² (360 sq. miles).

It's a very important haven for resident and migratory birds. Offering a large flat area of reed marshes and salty lagoons (étangs in French), it has sandbars which shelter this marshland from the Mediterranean sea.

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