The Ardèche in 4 days

A natural arch 54 metres high and 60 wide; see it from the gorge road viewpoint, from the pebble beaches, or by canoe underneath.

The original cave, found in 1994 with over 400 animals painted 36,000 years ago, is closed for good; this replica recreates its walls and gloom.

Thirty-two kilometres under 300-metre cliffs with no roads, grade 2 rapids and vultures; in one day, or with a night at Gaud or Gournier.

A cave system explored in 1935, with 50-metre-high chambers and stacked-plate stalagmites; the guided visit goes 121 metres down and a lift brings you back.

A 16 km² maze of water-worn limestone shaped like animals and towers, under oak and box, with trails to viewpoints over the Chassezac canyon.

A cliff village above a river bend, among France's most beautiful villages, with a Romanesque church, covered passages and a pebble beach for calm swimming.

The Bourges drops in two leaps, the main one 35 metres, into a bowl of black basalt columns left by an ancient lava flow.

A 1,551-metre sugarloaf of volcanic rock where the Loire rises; a steep half-hour climb gives views to the Mézenc and, on clear days, the Alps.