France is the most visited country in the world. It has everything that you could ever want to see on your holidays: a great city like Paris, good beaches, more monuments than any other country, lovely nature, incredible mountain scenery. France is also a very pleasant place to stay. It has good food, great wines and people enjoy their lives. And the best thing is, maybe apart from Paris, living in France does not have to be expensive.

The North of France consists of the flatlands around the town of Lille and the Channel. The area will remind visitors in many ways of Belgium and the Netherlands. The Grand' Place in Lille for example is a lot like that of Brussels.

Paris, the city of light and its surroundings are one of the most visited areas. Paris is without a doubt one of the most beautiful cities on the planet.

The eastern part of France consists of the Alsace, Lorraine, Franche Comté and Burgundy regions. The landscape has rolling hills and many beautiful cities, such as Metz, Strasbourg, Nancy and Dijon. This region produces many famous wines, including magnificent pinot noirs and chardonnays valued the world over, as well as the famous "Yellow wine" from the Jura mountain vineyard.

The Center of France is in many ways the most quiet part of France. But the great treasure of this region is the Loire valley , with many great castles and beautiful towns. Chartres with its famous cathedral and Tours rate among the most beautiful French cities

The Alps are great for skiing in winter and hiking in summer. Albertville, Grenoble and Chamonix have all hosted the Olympic games. But the Alps also have nice towns to visit, such as Chambéry, Annecy or Grenoble

The South with its lovely nature, good food, roman ruins and of course the Riviera draws a lot of visitors every year. Towns like Orange, and Arles but also big cities like Marseille and Toulon are must sees.

Paris - is not only an economic center but also a learning and cultural city, the fashion of Paris is well known around the world, many famous fashion designers make their events in this city. The must see places in Paris are :

• The Eiffel Tower - Despite of the fact that half of Paris was ready to clobber Eiffel for designing it and getting the city to approve having it plunked down next to the Seine for the World's Fair 1898 the eiffel tower won the hearts of millions around the world, it is now the symbol of the planet's most visited city. And it is very awesome to stand next to it.
  
• Notre Dame de Paris - The Notre Dame Cathedral is located at the eastern part of the Île de la Cité in Paris, and has a Gothic style which is considered the finest example of this kind of architecture, is one of the most visited attractions in this city and is still used as a Roman Catholic cathedral.
  
• Le Louvre - The Louvre Museum is a famous and historic museum, is the most visited in France, and holds many works of art, the Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are a few examples.

Lyon - is between two hills: the Fourvière and Croix-Rousse and between two rivers: the turbulent Rhône and the tranquil Saône. Lyon is a very industrial city, textile manufacturing is one of the most important here, but not only that, this city is known as the capital of gastronomy, like Paris, this city has the largest number of Michelin-starred restaurants, the most famous chef Paul Bocuse has his restaurant in Lyon and this city can be called the cuisine's paradise. The must see places in Lyon are :

• Notre Dame Basilique - This cathedral is huge and overwhelming when you walk inside, the ceilings are really high, and there are mosaics on all the walls. You can go downstairs and there is another almost as big chapel underneath the original one. Is located at the top of the Fourvière Hill and was built in the 19th century by the architect Bossan.
  
• Musée des Beaux-Arts - This Museum is located in the former Abbey of the Ladies of St-Pierre, in the center of the city. Houses one of the largest art collection in France, with Ancient and Egyptian art, sculptures and paintings from the Middle Ages and from painters such as Manet, Monet, Picasso and many others.

Cannes - The city of Cannes is situated at the south part of France in the Riviera region and its population is approximately of 70.000 inhabitants. Cannes is very famous around the world for its Film Festival and also for its Cannes Lions Festival. This is a very luxurious city and has as a principal source the tourism. The must see festival in Cannes is :

• The Cannes Film Festival is a very prestigious film festival and was celebrated for the first time from september 20 to October 5 1946 in the coast city of Cannes, at the south part of France and takes place in the Palais des Festivals on promenade de la Croisette. Since then it has been celebrated every year with some exceptions.

Bordeaux - is the capital of Gironde department with a population of 660,000 people, this is the largest cities in France and one of the largest in Europe, Bordeaux is an economic, comercial and industrial center, but its principal source is the wine trade, all the wine produced in the Bordelais region is known as Bordeaux wine. In the 5th century the city lost its importance but it was increased again when the city became the seat of the dukes of Aquitaine, the commercial activity also increased during this period.The must see places in Bordeux are :

• The Port de la Lune - Named like this because of its shape, the Port de la Lune unites the heart of the city around its crescent shape. Has a lot of commercial activity around and now the harbour attracts a growing number of cruise liners and pleasure craft.
  
• Porte d'Aquitaine - This monument is located in the Place de la Victoire, you can reach there following the Rue St Catherine and was built during the 21st century.

French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The Middle Ages brought lavish banquets to the upper class with ornate, heavily seasoned food prepared by chefs such as Guillaume Tirel. The era of the French Revolution, however, saw a move toward fewer spices and more liberal usage of herbs and refined techniques, beginning with François Pierre La Varenne and further developing with Napoleon Bonaparte and other dignitaries, Marie-Antoine Carême.

French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Georges Auguste Escoffier to become the modern version of haute cuisine. Escoffier's major work, however, left out much of the regional character to be found in the provinces of France. Gastro-tourism and the Guide Michelin helped to bring people to the countryside during the 20th century and beyond, to sample this rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of France. Basque cuisine has also been a great influence over the cuisine in the southwest of France.

Four climactic types prevail in France. A true temperate maritime climate is found in the west, near the coasts, and is exemplified at BREST, where winters are mild (7 deg C/45 deg F in January), summers are cool (16 deg C/61 deg F in July), and rainfall is frequent (800 mm/32 in) during 180 days of the year. A mid-latitude continental climate prevails in the interior of the country, with hotter summers (average July temperature of 18 deg C/64 deg F in PARIS) and more rigorous winters (average January temperature of 2 deg C/36 deg F in Paris), and rain falls on fewer days of the year.

A mountain climate prevails at high elevations, where temperatures are influenced mainly by altitude, and winters are generally bitterly cold and prolonged. Precipitation increases with elevation and occurs in the form of snow in winter, many villages in the high valleys receiving more than 50 days of snow each year. Briancon, in the Alps, has a mean temperature of -2 deg C (28 deg F) in January, and 17 deg C (63 deg F) in July; annual precipitation averages 587 mm (23 in). A Mediterranean type of climate is found in a zone about 20 to 60 km (12 to 35 mi) wide along the Mediterranean coast. It is characterized by hot, dry summers, mild and humid winters, and a small number of rainy days during the year. In MARSEILLE, 550 mm (22 in) of rain falls during 60 days of the year, and the sun shines for more than 3,000 hours each year. The average temperature is 7 deg C (45 deg F) in January and 23 deg C (73 deg F) in July.