Vallon-Pont-d'Arc

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (occitan: Valon) is a commune in the Ardèche department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southern France.

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Commune
Coat of arms
Location of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Coordinates: 44°24′28″N 4°23′40″E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
DepartmentArdèche
ArrondissementLargentière
CantonVallon-Pont-d'Arc
Government
 • Mayor (2014–2020) Pierre Peschier (DVD)
Area
1
28.62 km2 (11.05 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
2,382
 • Density83/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
07330 /07150
Elevation60–434 m (197–1,424 ft)
(avg. 118 m or 387 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a capital of prehistoric and cultural tourism. This small village, peaceful in wintertime, sees its population expand ten-fold in summer. Its tourist importance largely comes from the fact that it is the departure point for the river descent of the Gorges de l'Ardèche (from Pont d'Arc to Saint-Martin-d'Ardeche).

Geography

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is situated at the threshold of one of the most beautiful tourist sites of France: "les gorges de l'Ardèche" (the Ardèche canyon). The famous Pont d'Arc, a natural arch of more than 30 metres height, carved out by the Ardèche and classified as a Great Site of France, gave it its name.

1.8 km (1.1 mi) southeast of the village, the River Ibie flows into the Ardèche, which forms all of the commune's southwestern border.

Climate

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to the Köppen climate classification.

Climate data for Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (120m, 1991–2010 averages, extremes 1991-2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 19.7
(67.5)		 22.2
(72.0)		 29.1
(84.4)		 31.2
(88.2)		 35
(95)		 40.8
(105.4)		 40.5
(104.9)		 42.1
(107.8)		 36.6
(97.9)		 30
(86)		 21.9
(71.4)		 17.7
(63.9)		 42.1
(107.8)
Average high °C (°F) 8.5
(47.3)		 11.3
(52.3)		 16.2
(61.2)		 19.2
(66.6)		 23.8
(74.8)		 28
(82)		 31.2
(88.2)		 30.8
(87.4)		 24.7
(76.5)		 18.6
(65.5)		 12.5
(54.5)		 8.8
(47.8)		 19.5
(67.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) 4.6
(40.3)		 6.1
(43.0)		 9.9
(49.8)		 12.7
(54.9)		 16.9
(62.4)		 20.7
(69.3)		 23.3
(73.9)		 23.1
(73.6)		 18.3
(64.9)		 13.9
(57.0)		 8.6
(47.5)		 5.1
(41.2)		 13.6
(56.5)
Average low °C (°F) 0.6
(33.1)		 0.9
(33.6)		 3.6
(38.5)		 6.1
(43.0)		 10
(50)		 13.4
(56.1)		 15.5
(59.9)		 15.4
(59.7)		 11.9
(53.4)		 9.2
(48.6)		 4.6
(40.3)		 1.5
(34.7)		 7.8
(46.0)
Record low °C (°F) −10.5
(13.1)		 −10.2
(13.6)		 −12.5
(9.5)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 5.9
(42.6)		 7.1
(44.8)		 7.6
(45.7)		 2.1
(35.8)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 −8.6
(16.5)		 −10.3
(13.5)		 −12.5
(9.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 75.8
(2.98)		 50.1
(1.97)		 42.9
(1.69)		 79.5
(3.13)		 93.4
(3.68)		 59.6
(2.35)		 46.5
(1.83)		 58.5
(2.30)		 151.7
(5.97)		 142.1
(5.59)		 120.5
(4.74)		 82.9
(3.26)		 1,003.5
(39.51)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 7.2 4.9 4.4 7.6 7.9 5.7 4.1 5.4 6.7 8.4 8.0 6.9 76.9
Source: Meteo France[2]

History
  • 1801: Saint-Martin-d'Arc renamed to Chames
  • 1825: Chames renamed to Vallon
  • 1948: Vallon becomes Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (25 September

Administration
List of mayors
PeriodNamePartyQuality
1989–1995Jean-Pierre AgeronPS
1995–2001Jean-Pierre AgeronPS
2001–2008Pierre PeschierDVD
2008–2014Claude BenahmedPS
2014–presentPierre PeschierDVD

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19621,706—    
19681,831+7.3%
19751,837+0.3%
19821,787−2.7%
19901,914+7.1%
19992,027+5.9%
20082,380+17.4%
20122,343−1.6%

Sights
Ardèche River in Vallon-Pont d'Arc
  • The Pont d'Arc
  • The Chauvet Cave is not open to the public. An exposition site, copied from the cave, is open to the public so they can discover the oldest paleolithic paintings - 32.000 B.C. - and the lifestyle of the Cro-Magnon man.
  • The museum of the Chauvet Cave
  • The town hall (a castle constructed in 1639 under Louis XIII) houses seven tapestries from Aubusson, showing the crusades, exhibited in the Hall of Honour
  • The Gorges de l'Ardèche
  • The Gorges de l'Archèche National Park
  • Android tourism guide
  • Domaine de Segries (the PGL camp base for the Ardeche

Events

The village is very lively, especially in summer, with in its centre numerous shops and a market on Thursday and on Tuesday evening, which is known for its large success. Every summer, many events are organized: the lavender feast and the olive feast, prehistoric days with expositions, ateliers, conferences and presentations lasting for over a week after August 15.

Personalities
  • Deceased in 1971 the painter René Aberlenc
gollark: Based on what spirit says a lot, I'd assume vacuums are quite hard.
gollark: How easily is "easily"? Is it "easily if you have lots of expensive equipment already"?
gollark: Wow, cool colors.
gollark: *Some* of it maybe, but the current stuff seems fine.
gollark: Stopping people from freely discussing whatever random stuff would, in my opinion, make it worse.

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. "VALLON SA (07)" (PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 29 March 2020.



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