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AboutFrance is the world's most popular tourist destination (78 million in 2006) boasting dozens of major tourist attractions, like Paris, Côte d'Azur (the French Riviera), The Atlantic beaches, The winter sport resorts of the Alps, The Castles of Loire Valley, Brittany: Mont Saint Michel.
The country is renowned for its gastronomy (particularly wines and cheeses), history, culture and fashion.
What to seeFrance has a lot of different regions, places and cities that deserve a visit. Paris, the Provence region best known for its wines and the world-famous Loire Valley are some of the most popular traveled sites in France
* The Ile de France is the region surrounding the French capital, Paris.
* Nord-Pas de Calais, Picardie, and Haute-Normandie.
* Northeast France is a region where wider European culture (and specially German culture) has merged with the French, giving interesting results. It includes Alsace, Lorraine, Champagne-Ardenne and Franche-Comté.
* The Great West is an oceanic region, with a culture greatly influenced by the ancient Celtic peoples. It includes Brittany, Basse-Normandie, and Pays de la Loire.
* Central France is a largely agricultural and vinicultural region, featuring river valleys, chateaux and historic towns. It includes Centre-Val de Loire, Poitou-Charentes, Burgundy (best known for its wines and towns), Limousin, and Auvergne.
* Southwestern France is a region of sea and wine, with nice beaches over the Atlantic ocean, as well as young, high mountains border with Spain. It includes Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrenees.
* Southeastern France is primary a tourist region of the country outside of Paris, with a warm climate and azure sea, contrasting with the mountainous French Alps. It includes Rhône-Alpes, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
ClimateCool winters and mild summers on most of the territory. Mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean and in the south west. Mild winters and cool summers in the north west (Brittany). Cool to cold winters and hot summer in the Alsace region. Along the Rhône Valley (from Lyon throught Maseille), occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as the mistral. Cold winters with lots of snow in the Mountainous regions.
CitiesFrance has numerous cities and towns of interest to travelers.
* Paris the "City of Light", the capital of France.
* Bordeaux - city of wine, capital of South-West.
* Bourges - a middle aged city, capital of central France.
* Cannes - host of the annual Cannes Film Festival, located on the French Riviera region of Provence.
* Lyon - France's second city, with a history from Roman times to the Resistance, restaurants (Beaujolais and delicatessen).
* Marseille - big harbor, heart of Provence.
* Nice - a major resort on the French Riviera in Provence too.
* Strasbourg - a historic city on the Ill Rhine and home to, among other institutions, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Ombudsman, the European Parliament.
* Toulouse - capital of the Pyrenee region in the southwest of France.
Article provided by: WikiTravel
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