Provence (see list hotels)(Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The traditional region of Provence comprises the départements of Var, Vaucluse, and Bouches-du-Rhône and parts of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes. Provence is so named because it was one of the first provinces outside of Roman Italy.

Geography
Provence is bound by the Alps and Italy to the east and the Rhône River to the west, with the Mediterranean Sea providing its southern border. It has very varied topographical features, ranging from fertile plains in the Rhône valley to mountains in the east (notably Mont Ventoux, the Luberon range and the Alpilles), to marshlands in the south (the Camargue).

The Principality of Monaco is nestled between Nice and Italy. Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Avignon and Arles are other cities of importance in Provence. Marseilles is by far the largest city in Provence and the second largest city in France; the principal city of both the 'Bouches-du-Rhône' department and the region PACA (Provence Alpes Côte d'azur), Marseille is also called the chef-lieu (capital city) of Provence.

Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur :
Area: 31,400 km2
Population: 4781000 inhabitants (2001 to 2006)
Regional Prefecture: Marseille

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) is one of the 26 regions of France.
It is made up of:
the former French province of Provence
the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin
the former Sardinian-Piedmontese county of Nice, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, and in French as the Côte d'Azur
the southeastern part of the former French province of Dauphiné, in the French Alps.
It encompasses six departments in south-eastern France, bounded to the east by the Italian border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the principality of Monaco, to the north by Rhône-Alpes, and to the west by Languedoc-Roussillon, with the Rhône river marking its westernmost border.

The region logo displays the coat of arms created in the 1990s and which combines the coats of arms of the old provinces making up Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Major communities
The largest cities in the region are Marseille, Nice, Toulon, and Aix-en-Provence, each with a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants as of the 1999 census. The richest part of the Region is Nice's metropolitan aera.

Aix-en-Provence
Antibes (includes Juan-les-Pins)
Arles
Aubagne
Avignon
Cagnes-sur-Mer
Cannes
Fréjus
Grasse
Hyères
La Seyne-sur-Mer
Le Cannet
Marseille
Martigues
Nice
Toulon