France

Photo: Paris cafe

Paris's ubiquitous cafes provide front-row seats for the city's charms.

Photograph by Steven Greaves, My Shot

"How," Charles de Gaulle once asked, "can anyone be expected to govern a country that produces 265 different cheeses?" • The largest nation in western Europe, reaching from the English Channel and the Atlantic in the north to the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean in the south, le pays français is a mix of many different countries. • The Celtic Bretons couldn't be more different from Peter Mayle's epicurious characters in Provence. • Gustave Flaubert savaged the life of the small-town bourgeoisie, yet it is from the country that the nation's breathtaking gustatory and enological gifts come.

Related Features

  • Photo: Spools of thread

    Passementerie: Purely Parisian

    In Paris, frog's legs can be turned into a delicacy and something as banal as a tassel can be transformed into a masterpiece.

  • Photo: A Parisian countryside home

    Free Paris!

    Shopping in Paris doesn't have to do serious damage to your wallet. Know where (and when) to go.

  • Photo: A mother and child by the Eiffel tower

    Paris Downtime

    The City of Light is also a city of green, with a panoply of parks and gardens where Parisians rest and rejuvenate.

France Map

Enlarge Map »

Map: France

Europe Quizzes

Adobe Flash Player This requires the latest version of Flash Player. Click here to download.

Travel With Us

All Upcoming Trips »

Travel Top 10

Travel Blog

More From Travel & Cultures