The Ardèche Gorge, the largest natural canyon in Europe, angles through southern France, northwest of Avignon. Its craggy limestone cliffs rise as high as 1,000 feet. The Ardèche River begins in the massif central, cuts through the gorge and crosses the plateau to flow into the Rhone.
The ancient paintings that are found on cave walls throughout the world could be “the greatest art museum on the planet,” according to the noted French prehistorian Jean Clottes. The richest trove of prehistoric drawings and carvings, some dating back 35,000 years, is in the limestone caves of southwestern France.