A small but prosperous and surprisingly industrial town of around 12,000 people, AUBENAS sits in the middle of the southern part of the Ardèche département high up on a hill overlooking the middle valley of the River Ardèche. It is 91km southeast of Le Puy and 42km west of Montélimar. With a character and non-tourist-dependent economy of its own, it makes a much better base than places further downstream around Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, with their nightmarish c... [More]