FRANCE, the largest country in Europe, is situated in Western Europe. It is bordered by 8 countries, as well as the English Channel to the North, the Atlantic Ocean to the West, and the Mediterranean Sea to the Southeast (in which lies the French island of Corsica).

The country has a variety of beautiful landscapes, with the Alps (to the East), and the Pyrenees (to the Southwest), the river valleys of the Loire, Rhone, and Dordogne, and the flatter regions of Normandy and the Atlantic Coast.

The capital, Paris, is one of the world’s great cities, and abounds with attractions, including the Cathedral of Notre Dame (situated on an island in the Seine), the Tour Eiffel, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, and the Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. The city abounds with great museums and art galleries, and is famous for it’s many pavement cafes. The famous Palace of Versailles lies on the outskirts of Paris (to the West), and Disneyland is 32km (20 miles) to the East.

The North of France has many famous battlegrounds of the 1st and 2nd World Wars, with museums and memorial sites. Also on this coast are the busy cross-channel ferry ports of le Havre, Cherbourg, Calais, and Boulogne.

The West of France, from Brittany in the North, to Aquitaine in the South, has a beautiful, wild coastline, with miles of sandy beaches. Nantes, on the coast, boasts a medieval castle

In the Southeast is Lyon, France’s 2nd city, (lying in the Rhone Valley), and the French Alps, offering ideal skiing and hiking. To the South of the Alps is Provence, with the French Riviera and it’s coastal resorts of Cannes, Nice, and St. Tropez, and, to the West, the historic towns of Aix-En-Provence and Marseilles.

The magnificent Pyrenees Mountains lie in the Southwest, on the border with Spain and Andorra.

The whole of France is rich in lovely historic towns and villages, beautiful river valleys, famous wine-making areas, and abounds with chateaux and churches.

Corsica is a beautiful, unspoilt island, with a rugged atmosphere. It is the birthplace of Napoleon. The main towns are Ajaccio, in the Southwest, and the historic citadel town of Bastia, in the Northeast.