The mountains meet the sea at the Maures Coast, and after the wide bays around Antibes begins the Riviera coast. Although nothing in Europe can match Arizona's Grand Canyon, the Verdon Gorges are nonetheless spectacular. The Verdon derives its name from its jade green waters which add to the beauty. Both the northern and southern edges of the gorge may be followed by car. Climate P rovence obeys the rhythms of the Mediterranean climate, with seasons that change in abrupt succession.
Sudden autumn rains end the panting heat of summer.
Winters, particularly along the sheltered parts of the coast, tend to be mild. The year's most sustained rainfall occurs in spring, when the plant life explodes into growth, and the scent of resins and herbs fills the air. S ummer can be brutally hot in Provence. This is because, to put it in rather dramatic terms, this area is the most northerly perimeter of the Sahara Desert. Without the Mediterranean, that almost tideless and strongly salted inland sea, Provence would be literally Saharan.