Located on the Mediterranean in Southern France, between Marseilles and Toulon, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Europe.

A calanque is a steep-walled inlet, cove, or bay that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast. A calanque is a steep-sided valley formed within karstic regions either by fluvial erosion or the collapse of the roof of a cave that has been subsequently partially submerged by a rise in sea level.

1.Extreme microclimate that produces a range of rare vegetation.
a. In winter, the temperatures in the sheltered valleys can be significantly warmer than in the surrounding area.

2. The limestone is highly porous and it rarely rains: the main source of moisture rises from the salty evaporation of the sea in the blazing hot sun.

3.The soil is almost non-existent. Instead, the cliffs are criss-crossed with cracks into which a distinctive array of tough, determined plants wedge their roots.

Cassis has an average of 59 days of rain a year, though when it does rain the rain is often torrential; the average annual rainfall is 544.4 mm. It snows an average of 2.3 days a year, and the snow rarely remains long. Marseille has an average of 2835.5 hours of sunshine a year. The average minimum temperature in January is 2.3 °C., and the average maximum temperature in July is 29.3 °C. The mistral blows an average of one hundred days a year.[28]

Though the rocks look barren, they conceal approximately 900 plant species, 15 of which are protected. Depending on the sheerness of the slope and the direction it faces, you may find Mediterranean oak, Aleppo pine, wild olive trees, viburnum, myrtle, mastic, criste-marine (a form of samphire), sea lavender, an array of herbs including rosemary, thyme and fennel and Marseille Astragalus, a thorny plant unkindly known as mother-in-law's cushion.


Bonelli Eagle Birds are less populous, but you will see plenty of seagulls and, if you're lucky, a peregrine falcon, a great horned owl or a Bonelli's eagle

The calanques are also home to rabbits, foxes, wild boars and many reptiles including the ocellated lizard - the largest lizard in Europe - and Montpellier snake.