broken by rivers and canals for irrigation, with groves and woods on its margins. To the east, the Monts du Matin extend as a long barrier of pleasant hills, dominated by the limestone prow of the Vercors. To the south, beyond the Drôme Valley, the plain ends at the foot of the massif carrying the vast forest of Marsanne, topped by wind turbines. To the north, beyond the Isère Valley, the Romanais continues, geologically, Valence plain. The lower Miocene molasse in the north of the plain was covered by outwash alluvium of the Isère, whose terraces today still mark the shape of the Valentinois. The view from the ruins of the Château de Crussol, in front after the first sharp turns in the road on leaving the , the plain of Valence appears as it is, a large flat surface, bordered by two reliefs which are unobscured. It is also a very large area because of the same formation of physical organisation, one of successive terraces. Only the habitat and crops bring variation, due to the different nature of these terraces. Today the plain of Valence is organised around the Valence infrastructure whose urban sprawl gradually extends across its whole area. A number of communes however retain their village identity and their rural character, protecting them from changing into dormitory towns. These are ancient agricultural villages, especially those that precede the first villages on the side of Vercors. Their names evoke an initial high placement to readily give a defensive view of the plain of Valence: Montélier, Montvendre, Montéléger, Montoison, Montmeyran and Beaumont-lès-Valence. However, the territories corresponding to the plain of Valence and the Valentinois do not include west of the agglomeration, which is located in the neighbouring department of Ardèche. Climate Valence enjoys a humid subtropical climate, whose main characteristic is an almost constant wind which blows and dries the Rhône corridor. Dubbed the "mistral" when it comes from the north, it brings good weather and coolness in the summer, but an impression of freezing cold in winter. When it comes from the south, it usually announces the arrival of stormy disturbances. It is then called le vent du midi ou le vent des fous [the midi wind or the uncaring wind] because, for some people, it makes the atmosphere painful to bear, especially in the summer. The climate is semi-continental with Mediterranean influences. The Gotheron weather station of