Good, bad or ugly, everyone has something to say about France and the French: chic, smart, sexy, rude, racist, bureaucratic, bitchy as hell, pavements studded with dog poo, baguettes that dry out by lunchtime and a penchant for torching cars is some of the chitchat on the street. Spice up the cauldron with the odd urban riot, political scandal, presidential election and 35-hour working week - not to mention a massive box-office hit like The Da Vinci Code taking over Paris or superstar Angelina Jolie allegedly plumping for a chateau in Normandy to raise her kids - and the international media is all ears too.

The Authors

Getting Stoarted

Itineraries

The Culture

Environment

Paris

Around Paris

Far Northern France

Normandy

Brittany

Champaqne

Alsace & Lorraine

The Lobe Valley

Burgundy

Lyon & the Rhone Valley

French Alps & the Jura

Massif Central

Limousin, the Dordogne & Quercy

Atlantic Coast

French Basque Country

The Pyrenees

Toulouse Area

Languedoc-Roussillon

Provence

Cote d'Azur & Monaco

Corsica

Directory

Transport

Health

Language

Glossary

Behind the Scenes

Index

World Time Zones

Map Legend