France

France, officially the French Republic (French: République française), is a country with which almost every traveller has a relationship. Many dream of its joie de vivre shown by the countless cafés, picturesque villages and world-famous gastronomy. Some come to follow the trail of France's great philosophers, writers and artists, or to immerse in the beautiful language it gave the world. And others still are drawn to the country's geographical diversity, with its long coastlines, massive mountain ranges and breathtaking farmland vistas.

France has been the world's most-visited country for over twenty years. It received 89 million visitors in 2018. All these people come to France for many a reason: its cities contain some of the greatest treasures on the continent, its countryside is prosperous and well-tended, and it boasts dozens of major tourist attractions, including Europe's most popular, Disneyland Paris. France is one of the most geographically diverse countries in Europe, containing areas as different from each other as urban chic Paris, the sunny French Riviera, windswept Atlantic beaches, the snowy resorts of the French Alps, the Renaissance châteaux of the Loire Valley, rugged Celtic Brittany and the historian's dream that is Normandy.

France is a country of rich emotions and turbulent politics but also a place of rational thinking and Enlightenment treasures. Above all, it is renowned for its cuisine, culture and history. Whatever you want from a holiday, you're about to find it in France.

"Metropolitan France" comprises the 12 administrative regions (French: régions) on the mainland plus Corsica, or in other words all French territory within Europe. These are distinct from the country's overseas territories on other continents, which are talked about below. The 96 departments (départements) are the next level down of administrative division, two-thirds of them being named after a river, and most others taking after another natural feature, such as a mountain or sea.

Beyond Metropolitan France, also known as l'Hexagone for its shape, there are five overseas departments (départements d'outre-mer - DOMs), each as integral to France as any other department: French Guiana in South America, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean, and Mayotte and Réunion among the East African islands.

In addition to this, France has six organised overseas territories (territoires d'outre mer - TOMs)—French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Wallis and Futuna—and some remote, uninhabited islands as nature reserves, including Clipperton Island and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Despite being administratively part of France, these entities are not covered further here, but instead in their own articles.

Due to its many overseas departments and territories scattered around the world, France actually spans twelve time zones — that's more than any other country. However, all of Metropolitan France uses Central European Time (UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer).

France has numerous cities of interest to travellers; below is a list of nine of the most notable:

• Paris. — the "City of Light", romance and the Eiffel Tower.
• Bordeaux. — city of wine, traditional stone mansions and smart terraces
• Nice. — the heart of the French Riviera with a world-famous beach promenade, and gateway to the tiny nation of Monaco
• Lille. — a dynamic northern city known for its handsome centre and active cultural life
• Lyon. — France's gastronomic capital with a history from Roman times to the Resistance
• Marseille. — France's cosmopolitan second city, known for its Mediterranean harbour, its calanques, and its seafood
• Nantes. — a green and highly livable city known for Jules Verne, seafarers, and Breton culture
• Strasbourg. — beautiful historic centre ringed by canals, and the home of many European institutions
• Toulouse. — the "Pink City" is known for its distinctive brick architecture and its vibrant southern atmosphere

Paris. — the "City of Light", romance and the Eiffel Tower.

Bordeaux. — city of wine, traditional stone mansions and smart terraces

Nice. — the heart of the French Riviera with a world-famous beach promenade, and gateway to the tiny nation of [[Monaco]]

Lille. — a dynamic northern city known for its handsome centre and active cultural life

Lyon. — France's gastronomic capital with a history from Roman times to the Resistance

Marseille. — France's cosmopolitan second city, known for its Mediterranean harbour, its calanques, and its seafood

Nantes. — a green and highly livable city known for Jules Verne, seafarers, and Breton culture

Strasbourg. — beautiful historic centre ringed by canals, and the home of many European institutions

Toulouse. — the "Pink City" is known for its distinctive brick architecture and its vibrant southern atmosphere

• Camargue. — one of Europe's largest river deltas and wetlands, with a strong Provençal culture of bullfighting and cowboys.
• Disneyland Paris. — the most visited attraction in Europe, the Magic Kingdom even has its own TGV hub.
• French Alps. — home to the highest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, this is quintessential ski country.
• French Riviera. (French: Côte d'Azur "Azure Coast") — Glamorous Mediterranean coastline with upper class seaside resorts, yachts and sunbathing celebrities.
• Loire Valley. — the world-famous river valley, best known for its wines and Renaissance châteaux.
• Luberon. — the stereotypical Provence of picturesque villages, joie de vivre and wine.
• Mont Saint Michel. — a monastery and town built on a tiny outcrop of rock in the sand, which is cut off from the mainland at high tide.
• Verdon Gorge. — a beautiful turquoise-green river canyon, great for kayaking, hiking, rock-climbing or just driving around the limestone cliffs.

Camargue. — one of Europe's largest river deltas and wetlands, with a strong Provençal culture of bullfighting and cowboys.

Disneyland Paris. — the most visited attraction in Europe, the Magic Kingdom even has its own TGV hub.

French Alps. — home to the highest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, this is quintessential ski country.

French Riviera. (French: Côte d'Azur "Azure Coast") — Glamorous Mediterranean coastline with upper class seaside resorts, yachts and sunbathing celebrities.

Loire Valley. — the world-famous river valley, best known for its wines and Renaissance châteaux.

Luberon. — the stereotypical Provence of picturesque villages, joie de vivre and wine.

Mont Saint Michel. — a monastery and town built on a tiny outcrop of rock in the sand, which is cut off from the mainland at high tide.

Verdon Gorge. — a beautiful turquoise-green river canyon, great for kayaking, hiking, rock-climbing or just driving around the limestone cliffs.

A geographically-diverse country, France has surprising variations of climate for its size. As a general rule, the climate goes from cooler to warmer in a north-south direction, and wetter to drier from west to east. Most of the country experiences temperate winters and warm and often humid summers, and this is especially true of Paris and the Loire Valley. Mild, wet winters and cool summers persist in the north and north west (Brittany, Normandy, Picardy, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) where the whole climate is similar to that of southern England. Along the eastern border (Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine), there is a continental climate with cool to cold winters and hot summers. The Rhône Valley graduates from this to the warmer south, though the whole region experiences a strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as the mistral. The Mediterranean (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Corsica) enjoys short, mild winters and long, hot summers with high sunshine hours all year round. The south west (Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées) has similarly hot summers but lots of rain in winter, affected by the Atlantic and mountains. Expect cold winters with lots of the snow in the mountainous regions: the Alps, Pyrenees and Auvergne. However, sometimes the winters can be mild, and business owners who rely on the annual winter sports boom are left staring at the sky hopefully.

The majority of central, western and northern France comprises flat plains or gently rolling hills, punctuated with many long river valleys. This large expanse of easy land, coupled with the damn near perfect climate, is what makes France's agriculture so rich and productive. The remainder of the country is mountainous, with the south-east's Alps and south-west's Pyrenees among western Europe's highest ranges. Smaller ranges include the Vosges and Jura in the east, and the Massif Central in the mid south. The concept of terroir is extremely important to French farmers and winegrowers, and demonstrates how a particular area's climate, soil type and terrain combine to affect the flavour or character of a crop.

You can visit France at any time of the year, and of course some regions lend themselves to certain seasons (e.g. the Alps in winter, Paris in the springtime), but in general terms spring and autumn offer the ideal mix of decent weather throughout most of the country and a quieter tourist season. Summer is warm and sunny throughout most of France, and there are often many events going on to tempt the traveller, whether they be local festivals, outdoor concert seasons or the annual 14 July national holiday. However, travellers are advised to avoid the month of August, as this is when seemingly the entire population of France ups sticks and heads south for les vacances. This is the busiest time of year for transport, with samedi noir (black Saturday; the first of the month) often seeing up to 1000 km of traffic jams across the road network. What's more, you will find many local businesses, particularly in rural areas and regardless of whether there are summer visitors in the area, shut for the entire month. In the locals' absence, hoards of foreign tourists throng the country's major attractions and cities, and Paris especially can see room rates skyrocket.

French public holidays are influenced by the important Catholic holidays, with the exception of Good Friday which is only observed in the Alsace. Most of them fall on different dates depending on the year. This list most significantly includes Easter (Pâques) which has a bank holiday on Sunday and Monday. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven (Assomption) always falls on 15 August, All Saints' Day (Toussaint) on 1 November, and Christmas (Noël) on 25 December. Other holidays include the New Year (Nouvel An / Jour de l'an, 1 Jan), May Day (Fête du Travail, 1 May), Victory Day (8 mai, 8 May), Bastille Day (Fête nationale, 14 July), and Armistice Day (Jour du Souvenir / Jour de l'Armistice, 11 November). Like some of its neighbours (notably Spain and Germany), France has an extensive calendar of local holidays and saint days, but unlike those countries, these generally aren't observed by businesses and government.

It is advisable to plan ahead for your travel arrangements, especially during the French school holidays which typically fall for two weeks in the following periods: late October to early November, Christmas, Easter and between May Day and Victory Day. Furthermore, the whole country's schools break for the summer on the first Friday of July and return the first Monday of September. Naturally on and around these days, roads become crowded and prices for trains and planes skyrocket. If you can avoid travel during these times, do so.

France has been populated since the Neolithic period. The Dordogne region is especially rich in prehistoric caves, some used as habitation, while others as temples with remarkable paintings of animals and hunters, such as those found at Lascaux.

Written history began in France with the invasion of the territory by the Romans, between 118 and 50 BC. The territory which is today called France was made a part of the Roman Empire, and the Gauls (a name given to local Celts by the Romans), who lived there before the Roman invasions, became acculturated "Gallo-Romans". Gauls also lived in what is now Northern Italy and as such "Gallia Cisalpina" was the first Gaulish area to come under Roman dominion. Later, the area that is now the Provence came under Roman control under the name "Gallia Transalpina" (Gaul beyond the Alps) and it was as governor of this province that Julius Caesar manipulated local politics between Gaulish tribes in such a way that he fought a "defensive" war (provincial governors were not permitted to launch offensive war on their own initiative) that ended with the conquest of all of Gaul and the defeat and capture of Gallic chieftain and rebel leader Vercingetorix in the battle of Alesia. Caeasar and his confidante Aulus Hirtius (book 8) wrote a collection of books on the war known as "De bello gallico" and the bane of Latin students of all eras ever since, as the propaganda piece is lauded for its clear and concise language and one of very few antique sources where a major historical figure writes about their own actions. Caesar refers to himself in the third person in the book, a tendency that cultural depictions like Asterix have since copied. Caesar's actions were of questionable legality under then current Roman law and his famous crossing of the Rubicon was triggered by Caesar's fear that he'd face prosecution if he entered Italy without an army. Thus the conquest of Gaul was instrumental in the chain of events that caused the fall of the Roman Republic.

Roman rule in Gaul was a time of relative peace and prosperity but during the crisis of the third century there were local usurpers who founded a "Gallic Empire" which controlled Gaul and parts of Germania during a time of weak central control. Some buildings built by the Romans in the era are still extant and their roads remained in widespread use until the advent of the automobile as their quality far exceeded medieval road-building.

With the fall of the Western Roman empire in the 5th century AD, what was left were areas inhabited by the descendants of intermarriages between Gallo-Romans and "barbaric" Easterners (mainly the Franks, but also other tribes like the "Burgondes").

The legacy of the Roman presence is still visible, particularly in the southern part of the country where Roman circuses are still used for bullfights and rock and roll concerts. Some of France's main roads still follow the routes originally traced 2,000 years ago, and the urban organisation of many old town centres still transcript the cardo and the decumanus of the former Roman camp (especially Paris). The other main legacies of Roman civilisation are the Catholic Church and the French language.

Clovis, who died in 511, is considered to be the first French king, although his Frankish realm did not extent much further than the area of the present Ile de France, around Paris. However, his baptism to (Trinitarian) Christianity - as opposed to Arianism then popular with Germanic chieftains - would prove important to the further history of Europe. Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor of the new Western Roman Empire in 800, was the first strong ruler. Under his rule, he united territories which included France as well as parts of modern day Belgium, Germany and Italy. His main residence was Aix-la-Chapelle (now in Germany, known as Aachen). As he was almost constantly on the road and "ruling from the saddle", several places can be considered his "capital" or "residence".

During this period, France was under attack by the Vikings who came from the north and navigated the rivers upstream to plunder cities and abbeys. It was also under attack from the south by the Muslim Saracens who were established in Spain. The Vikings were given a part of the territory (today's Normandy) in 911 and quickly imposed the feudal system of serfdom upon the native peasants. The Saracens were halted in 732 at Poitiers by Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne and a rather rough warrior who was later celebrated as a national hero.

Starting with Charlemagne, a new society was established, based on the system of feudalism. Although generally seen as an era of stagnation, it can be more aptly described as a period of economic and cultural developments (the music and poems of the troubadours and trouvères, the building of the Romanesque and later Gothic cathedrals) being followed by recession due to pandemic disease and wars.

In 987, Hughes Capet was crowned as king of France; he is the root of the royal families who would later govern France. In fact when Louis XVI was forced to take a common name by the French Revolutionaries, "Louis Capet" was chosen in reference to Hughes. In 1154 much of the western part of France came under English rule with the wedding of Eleanor of Aquitaine to the English King Henry II (Count of Anjou, born in the town of Le Mans). Some kings of the Plantagenet dynasty are still buried in France, the most famous being Richard I 'the Lionheart', of Walter Scott fame, and his father Henry II, who lies in the Abbaye de Fontevraud. The struggle between the English and French kings between 1337 and 1435 is known as the Hundred Years' War and its most famous figure is Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), now considered a French national heroine.

The beginning of the sixteenth century saw the demise of the feudal system and the emergence of France as a 'modern' state with its borders relatively close to the present-day boundaries (although the Alsace, Corsica, Savoy and the Nice region weren't yet French). The "Sun King" Louis XIV, king from 1643 to 1715 (72 years), was probably the most powerful monarch of his day. French influence extended deep into the rest of Europe, even spreading as far as Russia; its language was used in many European courts, becoming the international language of diplomacy, and its culture was exported all over the continent.

That era and the following century also saw the expansion of France's global influence. This colonial expansion sparked a whole series of wars with other colonial empires, mainly England (later Britain) and Spain over control of the Americas and India. Meanwhile, the chief military engineer Vauban supervised the construction of fortifications around the French borders, and 12 of these Fortifications of Vauban have been listed as a world heritage by UNESCO. France ultimately lost on both fronts (the final defeat coming in the Napoleonic Wars) but French influence is still very visible in Louisiana and Quebec (where state/provincial law is still based on French civil law, and not English common law).

The French Revolution started in 1789. The king, Louis XVI, and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were arrested and ultimately executed by guillotine, and the first French Republic was established in place of the almost 1000-year-old monarchy. Although this was a bloody period, it was and remains an inspiration for many other liberation struggles around the world. During the revolution, France also signed the first "declaration of human rights" into law, just a few months ahead of its counterpart in the United States. To this day many constitutions include a declaration of rights that bear influence from this document.

Napoleon Bonaparte took power in a coup and ultimately restored France to a monarchical system by having himself crowned emperor in 1804, but his militaristic ambition which made him the ruler of most of western Europe was his downfall. His defeat at the hands of the British navy in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 meant that he never managed to eclipse the British as the world's dominant naval power. In 1815, Napoleon met his final defeat in the Battle of Waterloo (Belgium) by an alliance of British and Prussian forces, and was captured and exiled from Europe. He is still revered in some Eastern European countries as his armies and government brought with them the ideas of French philosophers. Perhaps his greatest legacy was the introduction of secularism (also known as the "separation of church and state"), which continues to be a key tenet of governance in most European countries to this day.

France went back to monarchy (first a Bourbon restoration, then a liberal kingdom under Louis Phillipe starting with a 1830 revolution) until another revolution in 1848 allowed a nephew of Napoleon to be elected president and then become emperor under the name of Napoleon III. The end of the nineteenth century saw the industrialisation of the country and the development of the railways but also the start of the bitter wars with Prussia and later Germany.

The war of 1870, that broke out over a minor disagreement regarding the vacant Spanish throne (a Hohenzollern prince had been suggested as heir and the French government demanded the Prussian government to firmly reject on his behalf), proved to be disastrous for the French. An ill prepared army was caught off-guard when not only Prussia but also Southern German states like Bavaria mobilised, while no one came to the aid of France. To add insult to injury, Napoleon III was captured in an early battle near Sedan and a Third Republic was declared. Not content with this, the Prussians drove on, besieging Paris (forcing its inhabitants to eat zoo animals) and crushing the short lived Paris Commune. When a peace treaty was finally signed, France had to give up Alsace and Lorraine, which had a German-speaking population in parts but more importantly rich iron ore deposits. In addition to that France was forced to pay five billion francs in gold, a sum so enormous that there was still something left over of it when France beat Germany in World War I forty years later.

While the Third Republic was seen as temporary solution at the time and early in its existence it had a monarchist majority in the National Assembly, squabbling between various monarchist factions and the refusal by their "compromise candidate" to accept the Tricolore flag as precondition to his crowning led to the Republic surviving its tumultuous initial phase. The Republic also survived the Dreyfus affair, in which a Jewish colonel was falsely convicted of treason under court martial, and Émile Zola's stinging rebuke of the military (J'accuse), and the ensuing controversy, shook France to its cultural and political core. After the First World War, as elsewhere in Europe, antidemocratic forces were on the rise in the interwar years, requiring a "popular front" government led by Léon Blum that included centrist parties as well as the Communists. The Third Republic only collapsed upon the military defeat of France in the early phase of the Second World War and remains the longest lived regime France has had since deposing Louis XVI in 1792. The current Fifth Republic could only surpass the Third Republic in duration by lasting until 2028 or longer.

1905 saw the separation of Church and State, under an initiative known as 'laïcité' ('secularism') in response to the Dreyfus affair. This was a traumatic process, especially in rural areas. Since then, France has not had an established religion. Under a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, the law forbids French students and civil servants from displaying any sign explicitly showing their religion. This policy applies to wearing Christian crosses and Jewish kippahs, and has recently been applied to the Muslim hijab. In the early 21st century, statistics for Church-going and belief in God were among the lowest in Europe. And while religion plays no role in politics, laicism and what exactly is meant by it does.

The First World War (1914 -18) was a traumatic period in France's history. Despite victory being achieved by France and her allies, almost 1.7 million French people were killed and many towns and villages and large tracts of countryside were destroyed. Much of the infamous trench warfare was fought across the eastern half of France. France was close to defeat twice in the war and was only convinced to fight on by the "miraculous" stopping of the 1914 German advance and by Marshal Petain rallying the troops for the battle of Verdun in 1916. After the war, France took control of the formerly German areas of Alsace and Lorraine, as well as several of Germany's overseas colonies, and became a leading force in Europe for the next decade.

The Second World War (1939 - 45) saw France occupied for much of the war by Nazi Germany. With northern France under direct German control and the south ruled by a puppet government (known as the Vichy regime), many totalitarian measures were introduced, including the forced deportation of Jews to concentration camps (see Holocaust remembrance). Despite the Vichy regime under Marshal Petain being officially collaborationist with the Nazis, many ordinary French citizens engaged in both active and passive resistance against the regime. In 1944, after Allied landings (including exiled French soldiers and those from France's imperial colonies) in Normandy and on the Mediterranean Coast, France was liberated from German control.

After the end of the Second World War, France went through a period of reconstruction and a new prosperity was achieved with the development of industry, and has since grown into Europe's second largest economy after Germany. France and Germany were among the first members of the Treaties which eventually evolved into the European Union. During the post-war period France went through painful decolonialisation processes in Indochina (see Indochina Wars) and Algeria and released almost all of its other possessions into independence. While France had to deal with the fact that their great power status was a thing of the past, some technological advances were made that were at least partially intended to show the world that France was still great. Be it the TGV, the French space programme or the French nuclear programme. On the other hand Franco-British relations, which had been difficult even in times of official alliance in the past became better, notably through projects like the Channel Tunnel or the joint Concorde project. One of the most visible consequences of France's EU membership was the introduction of the Euro (€) in 2002. It is now the common currency of sixteen European countries, which together make up the 'Eurozone'.

Today, France is a republic with a President elected for a 5-year term. The current constitution of the so called fifth Republic was written after the collapse of the post war fourth Republic, mostly according to the wishes of Charles de Gaulle. The incumbent President of the Republic is Emmanuel Macron. Current issues that face the country include the further integration of France into the EU and the adoption of common standards for the economy, defence and other fields.

Electricity is supplied at 220 to 230 V 50 Hz. Outlets are CEE7/5 (protruding male earth pin) and accept either CEE 7/5 (Grounded), CEE 7/7 (Grounded) or CEE 7/16 (non-grounded) plugs. Older German-type CEE 7/4 plugs are not compatible as they do not accommodate the earth pin found on this type of outlet. However, most modern European appliances are fitted with the hybrid CEE 7/7 plug which fits both CEE 7/5 (Belgium & France) and CEE 7/4 (Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and most of Europe) outlets.

Plugs Travellers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and other countries using 230 V 50 Hz which use different plugs simply require a plug adaptor to use their appliances in France. Plug adaptors for plugs from the U.S. and UK are available from electrical and "do-it-yourself" stores such as Bricorama.

Voltage: Travellers from the US, Canada, Japan and other countries using 110 V 60 Hz may need a voltage converter. However, some laptops, mobile phone chargers and other devices can accept either 110 V or 230 V so only require a simple plug adaptor. Check the voltage rating plates on your appliances before connecting them.

See also: French phrasebook

French (français) is the official language of France as well as a number of its neighbours, is a working language of the UN and the Olympics, and is the official language of around 270 million people in the world. French people are very proud of their language, and any tourist who doesn't put even a bit of effort into speaking it is missing out on an important part of the country's identity and culture, and what many consider to be the most beautiful language in the world.

There are slight variations in the pronunciation of informal everyday speech compared to how you may have learnt French at school. For example, in standard French the word for yes is oui ("we"), but you will often hear the slang form ouais ("waay"). This is the equivalent of the English language usage of "yeah" instead of "yes". The Loire Valley has the reputation of being the region where the best French is spoken.

Hardly anybody understands imperial units such as gallons or Fahrenheit. Stick to metric units; after all, the French invented this system.

The French are generally attached to politeness (some might say excessively) and will react coolly to strangers who forget it. You might be surprised to see that you are greeted by other customers when you walk into a restaurant or shop. Return the courtesy and address your hellos/goodbyes to everyone when you enter or leave small shops and cafes. It is, for the French, very impolite to start a conversation with a stranger (even a shopkeeper or client) without at least a bonjour (in the day) or bonsoir (at night). For this reason, starting the conversation with at least a few basic French phrases goes a long way to convince them to try to help you.

• Excusez-moi Monsieur/Madame: Excuse me, sir / madam (ehk-SKEW-zay MWAH mong-SYUH/ma-DAHM)
• S'il vous plaît Monsieur/Madame: Please (seel voo PLEH)
• Merci Monsieur/Madame: Thank you (merr-SEE)
• Au revoir Monsieur/Madame: Goodbye (oh ruh-VWAHR)

Avoid Salut ("Hi"); it is reserved for friends and relatives, and to use it with people you are not acquainted with is considered a bit impolite.

French spoken with a hard accent can be very difficult for the average French person to understand. In such circumstances, it may be best to write down what you are trying to say. But tales of waiters refusing to serve tourists because their pronunciation doesn't meet French standards are highly exaggerated. A good-faith effort will usually be appreciated, but don't be offended if a waiter responds to your fractured French, or even fluent but accented, in English. If you are a fluent French speaker and the waiter speaks to you in English when you'd prefer to speak French, continue to respond in French and the waiter will usually switch back — this is a common occurrence in the more tourist-oriented areas, especially in Paris.

Some parts of France (such as Paris) are at times overrun by tourists. The locals there may have some blasé feelings about helping foreign tourists who speak in an unintelligible language and ask for directions to the other side of the city for the umpteenth time. Be courteous and understanding.

As France is a very multicultural society with immigrants from all over the world, many African languages, Arabic, Chinese dialects (such as Teochew), Vietnamese or Khmer are spoken. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian belong to the same language family as French, and therefore it may be possible to communicate basic information through some common vocabulary, particularly when written down.

Although most French people, including virtually everyone born since the 1990s, have studied English in school, proficiency has historically been poor, with only a very small minority being conversant in it. With that said, things have started to change since the late 2000s. You can now expect major hotels and tourist attractions to always have staff who speak English and other foreign languages (German and Spanish being the most common). Furthermore, younger generations of French people are beginning to have a better grasp of English, and some can hold actually decent conversations. Some French people - usually those from wealthier backgrounds - are starting to speak with a new type of French accent: one peppered with British intonations.

When approaching French people, always be sure to begin the conversation in French, as assuming that a foreign language will be spoken is considered to be very rude. French people are well aware that many visitors' level of French is not very good, but they generally react well to even clumsy, but sincere, attempts to speak their language, and will feel much more inclined to respond using whatever English they know if they judge you to have made an effort.

The standard sign language is French Sign Language, locally known by its native initialism LSF (langue des signes française). Whenever an interpreter is present for a public event, he or she will use LSF. Users of American Sign Language (also used in Anglophone Canada), Quebec Sign Language, and Irish Sign Language may be able to understand LSF; as those languages were derived from LSF, they share a good deal of vocabulary and syntax with LSF, and also use a one-handed manual alphabet very similar to that of LSF. Users of British Sign Language, Auslan, or New Zealand Sign Language, however, will have great difficulty. Those languages differ markedly in vocabulary and syntax from LSF, and also use a two-handed manual alphabet.

Thinking of France, you might imagine the iconic Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe or the famous smile of Mona Lisa. You might think of drinking coffee in the lively Paris cafés where great intellectuals lingered in past times, or of eating croissants in a local bistro of a sleepy but gorgeous village in the countryside. Probably, images of splendid châteaux will spring to your mind, of lavender fields or perhaps of vineyards as far as the eye can see. Or perhaps, you'd envisage the chic resorts of the Cote d'Azur. And you wouldn't be wrong. However, they are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to France's many sights and attractions.

Paris. the "City of Light" and the capital of romance has been a travellers' magnet for centuries and a real must-see. Of course, no visit would be complete without a glance at its world famous landmarks. The Eiffel Tower is hard to miss, especially when it is lit beautifully at night, but the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur are all famous and stunning sights too. With no less than 3,800 national monuments in and around Paris, history is literally around every corner. Stroll through the city's spacious green parks, with the Luxembourg Gardens as one of the favourites, and make sure to spend some time on the famous banks of the River Seine. Also, don't miss the magnificent Palace of Versailles, the grandest reminder of the Ancien Régime 20 km away from the capital.

Bordeaux is famous for its wine but is also a bustling city with lots of historic sights to discover. It is listed as a World Heritage Site for being "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble". Lyon, the country's second largest city, is listed too, and boasts a beautiful old centre as well as a number of Roman ruins. Strasbourg, one of the EU headquarters, has a character of its own, with clear German influences. Montpellier is one of the best places in the south, with lots of monumental buildings and nice cafés. In the west there's the beautiful historic city of Nantes, home to the Château des ducs de Bretagne and many other monuments. The Capitole de Toulouse is situated right at the heart that famous university city's street plan. Last but not least, don't overlook Arles, with its World Heritage Listed Roman and Romanesque Monuments.

There are the magnificent cities of the Côte d'Azur, once the place to be for the rich and famous but now equally popular with a mixed crowd. Its sandy beaches, beautiful bays, rocky cliffs and lovely towns has made it one of the world's premier yachting and cruising areas as well as popular destination for land-bound travellers. There's bustling Nice, where some 4 million tourists a year enjoy the stony beaches and stroll down the Promenade des Anglais. Although Saint-Tropez gets overcrowded in summer, it's a delightful place in any other season. The same goes for Cannes, where the jet-set of the film industry gathers each year for the famous Cannes Film Festival. From there, you can hop on a boat to the much more peaceful Îles de Lérins.

Much smaller but just as gorgeous (and popular) are the perched villages of Gourdon and Èze, which is on a 427-meter-high cliff, much like an “eagle's nest”. Both offer some stunning panoramic views. From Èze, its a very short trip to the glitter and glamour of Monaco. For the world's millionaires and aristocracy, the green peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is an old time favourite with the impressive Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild full of impressionist art as its main sight. A bit more inland but well-worth a visit are the towns of Grasse, famous for its perfumeries, and Biot, known for its glass blowers.

The Provence, backing a good part of the Côte d'Azur, is one of the most beloved regions. It has a typical Mediterranean atmosphere and is famous for its lavender fields and rosé wines. It's also home to the stunning Verdon Gorge, one of the most beautiful gorges in Europe. The huge city and arts-hub Marseille has plenty of historic sights and nearby are the stunning Calanques, a series of miniature fjords it shares with Cassis. Provence also has famous Gorges du Verdon, reknowned cities like Aix-en-Provence, Arles and Nîmes have strong ancient heritage, and Avignon, with its splendid ramparts and the Palais-des-Papes, was once the seat of popes, and hosts every july the largest theatre festival in the world.

You haven't seen the best of France if you haven't had at least a taste of its amazing countryside, dotted with wonderful medieval villages and castles. There are great examples in any part of the country, but some 156 villages have been identified as the most beautiful in France, or "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France". The country's landscapes vary from the snow-covered peaks of the Alps and the Pyrenees with their many winter sports resorts to lush river valleys, dense forests and huge stretches of farmland and vineyards. The rolling riverine landscape of the Loire Valley is home to many great castles, of which Châteaux Amboise, Château de Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Chambord and Châteaux du Pin are some of the finest examples. The western region of Brittany reaches far into the Atlantic and boasts many megalithic monuments such as those near Carnac. The beaches of Normandy, also on the Atlantic coast, are famed for the D-Day Allied invasion on June 6, 1944. Although the humbling Normandy American Cemetery and countless museums, memorials and war time remains keep memory of those dark days alive, the region is now a pleasant and popular destination. Its picturesque coastline includes both long stretches of beach and steep limestone cliffs, such as those near Étretat). The region is also home to the splendid and World Heritage listed Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay. The lush hills of the Dordogne form another region famous for its castles, with over 1500 of them on its 9000 km2 area.

As the French have a real taste for art, the country has numerous art galleries and museums. Several of them are widely considered to be among the finest museums in the world of art, art-history, and culture. The grandeur and fame of the Musée du Louvre in Paris can hardly be matched by any other museum in the world. It boasts a fabulous collection of art from antiquity to the 19th century and is home of the Mona Lisa and many other renowned works. At a 15-minute walk from there is the Musée d'Orsay, another world class museum that picks up roughly where the Louvre's collections ends. It's in an old railway station and houses the national collection of art works from the 1848 to 1914 period. Its excellent collection includes some of the best French Impressionist, post-Impressionist and Art Nouveau works, including Degas' ballerinas and Monet's water-lilies. The Musée National d'Art Moderne in Centre Pompidou, still in France's capital, is the largest museum for modern art in Europe. The Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon has an excellent collection varying from ancient Egypt antiquities to Modern art paintings and sculptures. In Lille you'll find the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, one of the country's largest museums. Its varied collection is the second largest after the Louvre and boasts everything from antiquities to modern art. Smaller but still outstanding are the collections of the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi and the Picasso Museum in Paris. Marseille has many galleries and its Musée Cantini has a good collection of modern art associated with Marseille as well as several works by Picasso. Fondation Maeght houses modern art too and is situated in Saint-Paul de Vence.

Disneyland Resort Paris is by far France's most popular park, visited by families from all over Europe. The country's national parks have quite some visitors too though, due to their splendid scenery and great opportunities for outdoor sports. Vanoise National Park is the oldest and one of the largest parks, named after the Vanoise massif. Its highest peak is the Grande Casse at 3,855 m. The impressive natural landscapes of Parc national des Pyrénées are right on the southern border of France and extend well into Spain, where they are part of the Parc National Ordesa y Monte Perdido The whole area is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the French part, the glacial cirques of Gavarnie, Estaubé and Troumouse are some of the best sights, as is the wall of Barroud. The again mountainous Cévennes National Park covers parts of the Languedoc-Roussillon (including the popular Ardèche), Midi-Pyrénées and the Rhône-Alpes regions. The park's main offices are in the castle of Florac, but there are towns all over the park. Donkey rides are available and the cave formation of Aven Armand is one of the park's best sights.

Not yet under a protected status but highly popular is Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe and attractive for climbing, hiking and skiing. From the French side, it is mostly explored from Chamonix, a well known resort at the foot of the mountain.

• Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
• Stroll grand Parisian Boulevards
• Climb Montmartre Hill in Paris
• See the Gothic monuments on the Île de la Cité, in particular the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame
• See some of the world-famous art in the Louvre, or visit the equally stunning Musée d'Orsay, installed in a former railway terminus
• See the modern architecture in the business district of La Defense
• See the Science Museum in Villette Park, and the other odd attractions assembled there
• Stroll an old train viaduct on the Promenade Plantée in Paris
• See the stunning, but crowded, Versailles Palace
• Ride the TGV, the train which holds the speed record for a conventional (wheel-on-rails) train, from Paris to Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg or Lille.
• See the "D-Day beaches" of Normandy
• Climb to the top of Mont Saint Michel
• Explore Chartres Cathedral
• See the quaintness of the Alsace
• Sunbathe on the beaches of the French Riviera

Like neighbouring Germany and Italy, France is also known for having a very strong classical music tradition. French composers who are well-known among classical music circles, and even to many members of the general public, include the likes of Lully, Rameau, Berlioz, Fauré, Gounod, Debussy, Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Massenet, Delibes and Messiaen. Even if you have never heard of these composers, chances are that you are already familiar with their compositions to a certain extent, as some of these pieces have found their way into popular culture, and are commonly heard in advertising and film scores.

France is famous for its ballets, and most of the modern-day terms used by ballerinas originate from French. French composers have, unsurprisingly, contributed many famous ballet scores. To this day, the Paris Opera Ballet remains one of the most famous ballet companies in the world.

Similarly, French opera is also regarded as one of the greatest operatic traditions in Europe. During the Baroque period, while Italian opera took much of Europe by storm, it never gained a strong foothold in France, where the French developed their own unique operatic tradition, partly thanks to the Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully (né Giovanni Battista Lulli), who was hired by Louis XIV for that purpose. The 19th century gave rise to some new French operatic styles such as the grand opera, which combined opera and ballet into a single performance. In fact, even foreign composers such as Rossini, Verdi and Meyerbeer are famous for their contributions to the French operatic stage. Another genre of opera that developed in 19th century France was the operetta, essentially a comedic opera with light-hearted music and subject matter, which was created by the German-born composer Jacques Offenbach. For those who are interested in watching French opera, the Paris Opera remains one of the premier opera companies in the world, though there are also good opera houses in some of the smaller cities.

Without a doubt the most popular spectator team sports in France (though not necessarily in that order) are rugby union, football and (European/team/olympic) handball with both strong domestic competition and a national side that has variously won Six Nations, world cups and European championships and is usually to be reckoned with on a global level.

Cycling is another popular sport in France, with many professional races taking place across the country throughout the year. The Tour de France, cycling's most prestigious race, takes place every July over three weeks. The race features a series of 21 full day stages along roads across France and typically covers 3,500 km. Although the Tour always finishes on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the specific route to get there changes every year. The beginning of the race is known as the Grand Départ, a carnivalesque affair which regions across France and indeed around western Europe vie to host. The Tour is free to watch at all of its stages and is very accessible. It is best viewed at stage towns and at its most thrilling sections: mass sprints at the end of a flat stage, cobbled sections and mountain climbs, where the atmosphere is greatest.

Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower in [[Paris]]

Climb Montmartre Hill in [[Paris]]

See the Gothic monuments on the Île de la Cité, in particular the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame

Ride the TGV, the train which holds the speed record for a conventional (wheel-on-rails) train, from [[Paris]] to [[Lyon]], [[Marseille]], [[Strasbourg]] or [[Lille]].

Many of the French take their vacations in August. As a result, outside of tourist areas, many of the smaller shops (butcher shops, bakeries...) will be closed during parts of August. This also applies to many corporations as well as physicians. Obviously, in touristy areas, shops will tend to be open when the tourists come, especially July and August. In contrast, many attractions will be awfully crowded during those months, and during the Easter weekend.

Some attractions, especially in rural areas, close or have reduced opening hours outside the tourist season.

Mountainous areas tend to have two tourist seasons: in the winter, for skiing, snowshoeing and other snow-related activities, and in the summer for sightseeing and hiking.

Some foreign currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the British pound are occasionally accepted, especially in tourist areas and in higher-end places, but one should not count on it; furthermore, the cashier may charge an unfavourable exchange rate. In general, shops will refuse transactions in foreign currency.

It is compulsory, for the large majority of businesses, to post prices in windows. Hotels and restaurants must have their rates visible from outside (however, many hotels offer lower prices than the posted ones if they feel they will have a hard time filling up their rooms; the posted price is only a maximum).

Almost all stores (except smaller independent stores including some tourist stores and tobacco stores), restaurants and hotels take the CB French debit card, and its foreign affiliations, Visa and MasterCard. American Express tends to be accepted only in high-end shops. Retailers will post by the till if there is a minimum spend required before using the card. Check with your bank for applicable fees (typically, banks apply the wholesale inter-bank exchange rate, which is the best available, but may slap a proportional and/or a fixed fee). French CB cards (and CB/Visa and CB/MasterCard cards) have a "smart chip" on them allowing PIN authentication of transactions. This system, initiated in France, has now evolved to an international standard and newer British cards are compatible. Some automatic retail machines (such as those vending tickets) may be compatible only with cards with the microchip. In addition, cashiers unaccustomed to foreign cards possibly do not know that foreign Visa or MasterCard cards have to be swiped and a signature obtained, while French customers systematically use PIN and don't sign the transactions. The acceptance of contactless cards is also becoming widespread.

There is practically no way to get a cash advance from a credit card without a PIN in France.

Automatic teller machines (ATM) are by far the best way to get money in France. They all take CB, Visa, MasterCard, Cirrus and Plus and are plentiful throughout France. They may accept other kinds of card; check for the logos on the ATM and on your card (on the back, generally) if at least one matches. It is possible that some machines do not handle 6-digit PIN codes (only 4-digit ones), or that they do not offer the choice between different accounts (defaulting on the checking account). Check with your bank about applicable fees, which may vary greatly (typically, banks apply the wholesale inter-bank exchange rate, which is the best available, but may slap a proportional and/or a fixed fee; because of the fixed fee it is generally better to withdraw money in big chunks rather than €20 at a time). Also, check about applicable maximal withdrawal limits.

Traveller's cheques are difficult to use — most merchants will not accept them, and exchanging them may involve finding a bank that accepts to exchange them and possibly paying a fee.

The postal service doubles as a bank, so often post offices will have an ATM. As a result, even minor towns will have ATMs usable with foreign cards.

Exchange offices (bureaux de change) are now rarer with the advent of the Euro - they will in general only be found in towns with a significant foreign tourist presence, such as Paris. Some banks exchange money, often with high fees. The Bank of France no longer does foreign exchange.

Do Put money into your checking account, carry an ATM card with a Cirrus or Plus logo on it and a 4-digit pin that does not start with '0' and withdraw cash from ATMs. Pay larger transactions (hotel, restaurants...) with Visa or MasterCard. Always carry some euros cash for emergencies.

Don't Carry foreign currency or traveller's cheques, and exchange them on the go, or expect them to be accepted by shops.

Tips are not expected in France since service charges are included in the bill. However, French people usually leave the small change left after paying the bill or one to five euros if they were satisfied with the service quality.

In towns and city centres, you always will find smaller shops, chain grocery stores (Casino) as well as, occasionally, department stores and small shopping malls. Residential areas will often have small supermarkets (such as Carrefour Market or Intermarché). Large supermarkets (hypermarchés such as Auchan, Carrefour, E.Leclerc, Géant Casino) are mostly on the outskirts of towns and are probably not useful unless you have access to a car.

Prices are indicated with all taxes (namely, the TVA, or value-added tax) included. It is possible for non-EU residents to get a partial refund upon departure from certain stores that have a "tax-free shopping" sticker; inquire within. TVA is 20% on most things, but 10% on some things such as books, restaurant meals, and public transport and 5.5% on food purchased from grocery stores (except for sweets!). Alcoholic beverages are always taxed at 20%, regardless of where they're purchased.

With its international reputation for fine dining, few people would be surprised to hear that French cuisine can certainly be very good. As a testament to this, France is tied with Japan for first place as the country with the most Michelin star restaurants. Unfortunately, it can also be quite disappointing; many restaurants that cater to tourists serve very ordinary fare, and some are rip-offs. Finding the right restaurant and one where French people go to is therefore very important – try asking locals, hotel staff or even browsing restaurant guides or websites for recommendations as simply walking in off the street can be a hit and miss affair. The downside is that outside of the tourist traps, it is very rare to find a restaurant with English-speaking waiters, so be prepared to have to speak some French.

There are many places to try French food in France, from three-star Michelin restaurants to French brasseries or bistrots that you can find on almost every corner, especially in big cities. In general, one should try to eat where the locals do for the best chance of a memorable meal. Most small cities or even villages have local restaurants which are sometimes listed in the most reliable guides. In fact, many fine dining restaurants are in rural villages rather than in the big cities, and French people often drive to those villages to dine during special occasions. Even among cities, Paris is not considered by the French to have the best fine dining scene; that honour goes to Lyon. There are also specific local restaurants, like bouchons lyonnais in Lyon, crêperies in Brittany (and in the Montparnasse area of Paris), and baraques à frites in the north

Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, even Thai eateries are readily available in Paris, either as regular restaurants or traiteurs (fast-food). They are not so common, and are more expensive, in smaller French cities. Many places have "Italian" restaurants though these are often little more than unimaginative pizza and pasta parlours. You will also find Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, as well as Greek and Lebanese food. The ubiquitous hamburger bars - US original or their French copies - are also available.

In France, taxes (7% of the total in restaurants) and service (usually 10%) are always included in the bill, so anything patrons add to the bill amount is an "extra-tip". There should not be any additions to the advertised price, do not hesitate to question such additions. French people usually leave one or two coins if they were happy with the service, but it's not mandatory. Bread and tap water are always free of charge, and no extra price should be applied for the dishes.

Fixed price menus seldom include beverages. If you want water, waiters will often try to sell you mineral water or fizzy water, at a premium; ask for a carafe d'eau for tap water, which is free and safe to drink. Water never comes with ice in it unless so requested, and water with ice may not be available.

As in other countries, restaurants tend to make a large profit off beverages. Expect wine to cost much more than it would in a supermarket.

Ordering is made either from fixed price menus (menu fixe) or à la carte.

A typical fixed price menu will comprise:

• appetiser, called entrées or hors d'œuvres
• main dish, called a plat [principal]
• dessert (dessert) or cheese (fromage)

Sometimes, restaurants offer the option to take only two of the three courses, at a reduced price.

Coffee is always served as a final step, though it may be followed by liquors. Coffee will always be served black unless requested otherwise. For white coffee, ask for café au lait. A request for coffee during the meal will be considered strange.

Not all restaurants are open for both lunch and dinner, nor are they always open all year around. It is therefore advisable to carefully check the opening times and days. A restaurant open for lunch will usually start service at noon and accept patrons until 13:30. Dinner begins at around 19:30 and patrons are accepted until 21:30. Restaurants with longer service hours are usually found only in the larger cities and in town centres. Finding a restaurant open on Saturday and especially Sunday can be a challenge unless you stay close to the tourist areas.

In a reasonable number of restaurants, especially outside tourist areas, a booking is compulsory and people may be turned away without one, even if the restaurant is clearly not filled to capacity. For this reason, it can be worthwhile to research potential eateries in advance and make the necessary reservations to avoid disappointment, especially if the restaurant you're considering is specially advised in guide books.

A lunch of 2-3 courses for two on the menu including wine and coffee will cost you (as of 2018) €30-50 on average. A main course at dinner will cost €15-30 in a typical restaurant, while a typical dinner for two with beverages will cost €50-110. The same with beer in a local bistro or a crêperie around €35-55. You can, or course, spend considerably more.

Outside of Paris and the main cities, prices are not always lower but the menu will often include a fourth course, usually cheese. As with everywhere beware of the tourist traps which are numerous around the heavy travelled spots and may offer a nice view but not much to remember on your plate.

French waiters have a reputation for being rude, but this is largely undeserved. While there are certainly a few bad eggs who will seemingly go to any length to demonstrate their contempt for you as a customer, most perceptions of rudeness are simply down to travellers having certain expectations of service which are different to the French cultural norm.

So let's clear things up: in France the customer does not come first. You are not always right, your every whim does not have to be indulged, and the amount of money you flash will not entitle you to a superior service to others in the room. The vast majority of restaurants in France are privately-owned independents, with all the proprietary pride that entails; you as the customer are nothing more than a temporary guest in the restaurateur's home. That means you will be treated well, as long as you are polite and follow a few house rules. Humility and a sense of humour when mistakes happen can both go a long way in this game!

Upon arrival at a restaurant, wait at the door to be shown to your table. Seating yourself without being invited to do so is often taken to be presumptuous, and may result in your getting off on the wrong foot before you can even say bonjour. Asking for a dish to be changed for any reason is unusual and can be taken as a criticism of chef's cooking. If you don't like how a particular dish is prepared, or can't eat one of the ingredients, order something else. There is a reason the full menu is posted on every restaurant door, and that is to allow people to get an idea of what is on offer in advance of making a commitment to eat there. While dining, it is considered impolite to have your elbows on the table; ditto for laying your hands in your lap. If you are given a glass or a cup with your beverage, use it.

Waitering is a respected profession in France, and you should recognise this from the get-go. In the French psyche, a good waiter is there to make sure you receive your meal and drinks in the proper manner, and then to keep out of your way so you can enjoy yourself in peace. If you need something, ask and you shall receive, but don't expect to be approached during your meal, or for your needs to be anticipated in advance. Above all, don't copy the movies by addressing your waiter as garçon (boy), as this is demeaning and about a century out-of-date etiquette-wise. A simple excusez-moi is more than sufficient to attract the server's attention. One way to ensure good service can be to ask the waiter's recommendations for wine or to point out any local specialities on the menu; this shows that you respect their expertise and gives you the opportunity to learn more about the local cuisine.

You can show your appreciation at the end by leaving a small tip. Tipping is neither compulsory nor expected as the serving staff receive a full wage, and many establishments factor a 10% service charge into the price of the food (this is signalled with service compris printed on the bill or menu). Most French people, when deciding to tip, will just round up the bill to the next multiple of five - if a bill comes to €26, call it €30 and everyone's happy.

Bakeries (boulangeries) are something of a French institution and are to be found all over the country from the smallest villages to city streets. All white bread variants keep for only a short time and must be eaten the same day, or else saved for dunking in soup or hot chocolate the following morning. Hence bakers bake at least twice a day.

• The famous baguette: a long, thin loaf;
• Variants of the baguette : la ficelle (even thinner), la flûte, la tradition (a baguette with a generally more delicate taste but also more expensive);
• Pain de campagne or Pain complet: made from whole grain which keeps relatively well.

The famous baguette: a long, thin loaf;

Pastries are a large part of French cooking. Hotel breakfasts tend to be light, consisting of tartines (pieces of bread with butter or jam) or the famous croissants and pains au chocolat, not dissimilar to a chocolate-filled croissant, but square rather than crescent shaped.

Pastries can be found in a pâtisserie but also in most boulangeries.

Every French region has dishes all its own. These dishes follow the region's local produce from agriculture, hunting and fishing. Here is a small list of regional dishes which you can find easily in France. Generally each region has a unique and widespread dish, usually because it was food for the masses:

• Cassoulet (in the south west) : beans, duck, pork & sausages
• Choucroute, or sauerkraut (in Alsace) : stripped fermented cabbage + pork
• Fondue Savoyarde (central Alps) : melted/hot cheese with white wine
• Fondue Bourguignonne (in Burgundy) : pieces of beef (in boiled oil), usually served with a selection of various sauces.
• Raclette (central Alps) : melted cheese & potatoes/meat
• Pot-au-feu (found all over France) : boiled beef with vegetables
• Boeuf Bourguignon (Burgundy) : slow cooked beef with red wine gravy
• Gratin dauphinois (Rhone-Alpes) : oven-roasted slices of potatoes with sour cream and cheese
• Aligot (Aveyron) : melted cheese mixed with a puree of potatoes
• Bouillabaisse (fish + saffron) (Marseille and the French Riviera). Don't be fooled! A real bouillabaisse is a really expensive dish due to the amount of fresh fish it requires. Be prepared to pay at least €30 per person. If you find restaurants claiming to serve bouillabaisse for something like €15 per person, you'll find it to be of a very poor quality.
• Tartiflette (Savoie) : Melted Reblochon cheese, potatoes and pork or bacon.
• Confit de Canard (south west) : Duck Confit, consists of legs and wings bathing in grease. That grease is actually very healthy and, with red wine, is one of the identified sources of the so-called "French Paradox" (eat richly, live long).
• Foie Gras (south west) : The liver of a duck or goose. Although usually quite expensive, foie gras can be found in supermarkets for a lower price (because of their purchasing power) around the Christmas season. It is the time of year when most foie gras is consumed in France. It goes very well with Champagne.
• Moules marinière (found all along the coast, with large regional differences) : Mussels steamed in wine or cider (Brittany and Normandy) with a variety of local produce, e.g. simple shallots and garlic in the north, cream in the west, tomatoes and peppers in the south, etc... Normally served with crusty bread and frites.

Cooking and drinking is a notable part of French culture; take time to eat and discover new dishes.

Contrary to stereotype, snails and frog legs are quite infrequent foods in France, with many French people enjoying neither, or sometimes having never even tasted them. Quality restaurants sometimes have them on their menu: if you're curious about trying new foods, go ahead.

• Frog legs (cuisses de grenouille) have a very fine and delicate taste with flesh that is not unlike chicken. They are often served in a garlic dressing and are no weirder to eat than, say, crab.
• Most of the taste of Burgundy snails (escargots de bourgogne) comes from the generous amount of butter, garlic and parsley in which they are cooked. They have a very particular spongy-leathery texture and, for obvious reasons, a strong garlicky flavour. Catalan-style snails (cargols) are made a completely different way, and taste even weirder!

Let us also cite:

• Rillettes sarthoises also known as Rillettes du Mans. A sort of potted meat, made from finely shredded and spiced pork. A delicious speciality of the Sarthe area in the north of the Pays de la Loire and not to be confused with rillettes from other areas, which are more like a rough pâté.
• Beef bone marrow (os à moelle). Generally served in small quantities, with a large side. So go ahead: if you don't like it, you'll have something else to eat on your plate!
• Veal sweetbread (ris de veau), is a very fine (and generally expensive) delicacy, often served with morels, or in more elaborate dishes like bouchées à la reine.
• Beef bowels (tripes) is served either à la mode de Caen (with a white wine sauce, named after the town in Normandy) or à la catalane (with a slightly spiced tomato sauce)
• Andouillettes are sausages made from tripe, a specialty of Lyon
• Tricandilles are seasoned and grilled pork tripe from the Bordeaux region
• Beef tongue (langue de bœuf) and beef nose (museau) and Veal head (tête de veau) are generally eaten cold (but thoroughly cooked!) as an appetizer.
• Oysters (huîtres) are most commonly served raw in a half shell. They are often graded by size, No1 being the largest (and most expensive).
• Oursins (sea urchins), for those who like concentrated iodine.
• Steak tartare a big patty of ground beef cured in acid as opposed to cooked, frequently served with a raw egg. Good steak tartare will be prepared to order at tableside. A similar dish is boeuf carpaccio, which is thin slices or strips of raw steak drizzled with olive oil and herbs.
• Cervelle (pronounced ser-VELL), lamb brain.

Frog legs (cuisses de grenouille) have a very fine and delicate taste with flesh that is not unlike chicken. They are often served in a garlic dressing and are no weirder to eat than, say, crab.

Most of the taste of Burgundy snails (escargots de bourgogne) comes from the generous amount of butter, garlic and parsley in which they are cooked. They have a very particular spongy-leathery texture and, for obvious reasons, a strong garlicky flavour. Catalan-style snails (cargols) are made a completely different way, and taste even weirder!

Beef bone marrow (os à moelle). Generally served in small quantities, with a large side. So go ahead: if you don't like it, you'll have something else to eat on your plate!

Veal sweetbread (ris de veau), is a very fine (and generally expensive) delicacy, often served with morels, or in more elaborate dishes like bouchées à la reine.

Beef bowels (tripes) is served either à la mode de Caen (with a white wine sauce, named after the town in Normandy) or à la catalane (with a slightly spiced tomato sauce)

Beef tongue (langue de bœuf) and beef nose (museau) and Veal head (tête de veau) are generally eaten cold (but thoroughly cooked!) as an appetizer.

Oysters (huîtres) are most commonly served raw in a half shell. They are often graded by size, No1 being the largest (and most expensive).

France is certainly the country for cheese (fromage), with nearly 400 different kinds. Indeed, former president General Charles De Gaulle was quoted as saying "How can you govern a country which has 365 varieties of cheese?".

Vegetarianism is not as uncommon as it used to be, especially in larger cities. Still, very few restaurants offer vegetarian menus, thus if you ask for something vegetarian the only things they may have available are salad and vegetable side dishes.

There may still be confusion between vegetarianism and pescetarianism. Vegetarian and organic food restaurants are starting to appear. However, "traditional" French restaurants may not have anything vegetarian on the menu fixe, so you may have to pick something à la carte, which is usually more expensive.

Luckily North African cuisine is very popular in France, couscous is one of the most popular dishes in France (especially in Eastern France) and is widely available.

Veganism, whilst on the rise, is still very uncommon and it may be difficult to find vegan eateries. Nonetheless, the French vegan community made some tools to help find vegan food & restaurants : vegan-mafia.com and vegoresto.fr. Paris has one of the fastest growing vegan communities in Europe, so you should be able to find a vegan restaurant or two.

Pretty much every town has at least one halal restaurant or takeaway, and many also have halal butchers. Kosher (look for signs with kasher, cachère and other similar words) restaurants and shops are less common outside the large cities.

Breakfast in France is usually very light, typically consisting of a coffee and a croissant or some other viennoiserie at special occasions. On normal days most people have a beverage (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, orange juice) and toast of baguette or toast bread with butter and jam/honey/Nutella that can be dipped in the hot beverage, or cereals with milk, or fruit and yoghurt. The French breakfast is mostly sweet, but anything can change and you can have savoury breakfasts everywhere today.

Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, the Loire Valley... France is the home of wine. It can be found cheaply just about anywhere. Beer (lager) is also extremely popular, in particular in northern France, where "Bière de Garde" can be found. The alcohol purchase age was recently raised to 18 for all drinks, but this is not always strictly enforced; however, laws against drunk driving are strictly enforced, with stiff penalties.

French wine is classified mainly by the region it comes from. Many wines don't label the variety of grape that was used, so to know what you're getting, you have to learn what types of wine each region is known for. Wines are usually labeled with the region (which may be broad or very specific) and a quality level:

• Roughly half of all wines are AOP (Appellation d'origine protégée), or AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) in wines before 2012. For this highest tier, wine must come from designated areas with restrictions on the grape varieties, winemaking methods, and flavor profile.
• Another third of wines are IGP (Indication géographique protégée), or Vin de Pays before 2012. These too are judged to meet the character of a region's wine, but have fewer restrictions than AOP/AOC wines.
• The lowest tier are Vin de France, or Vin de Table before 2010, which are everyday table wines that are not labelled by region.

Wine and spirits may be purchased from supermarkets, or from specialised stores such as the Nicolas chain. Nicolas offers good advice on what to buy (specify the kind of wine and the price range you desire). In general, only French wines are available unless a foreign wine is a "speciality" with no equivalent in France (such as port), and they are classified by region of origin, not by grape.

Etiquette-wise, you shouldn't drink alcoholic beverages (especially red wine or strong alcohol such as cognac) directly from a 70 cl bottle. Such behaviour is generally associated with drunkards (though if you are surrounded by college students, you may be OK). Drinking beer from a 25 to 50cl can or bottle is OK.

Prices of food and beverages will vary on whether they're served to you at the bar or sitting at a table - the same cup of espresso might cost €0.50 more if served at a table than at the bar, and €0.50 more again if served out on the terrace. Really, you're not paying so much for the beverage as for the table spot. Do consider the bar, though - while you will have to stand, café bars are often where a great deal of public discourse and interaction happens. In any event, cafés are required by law to post their prices somewhere in the establishment, usually either in the window or on the wall by the bar.

There are a couple of mixed drinks which seem to be more or less unique to France, and nearby francophone countries.

• Panaché is a mix of beer and lemonade, basically a beer shandy.
• Monaco is a Panaché with some grenadine syrup added.
• Kir is a pleasant aperitif of white wine (in theory, Bourgogne Aligoté) or, less frequently, of champagne (then named kir royal and about twice the price of regular kir) and cassis (blackcurrant liqueur), or peche (peach), or mûre (blackberry).
• Pastis is an anise-based (licorice-flavored) spirit, similar in taste to Sambuca or Ouzo, that is served with a few lumps of sugar and a small pitcher of cold water to dilute the liquor. It is traditionally enjoyed on very hot days, and as such is more popular in the south of the country but available more or less everywhere.

There is a variety of bottled water, including:

• Évian, Thonon, Contrex, Volvic: mineral water
• Perrier: fizzy water
• Badoit: slightly fizzy and salty water.

Roughly half of all wines are AOP (Appellation d'origine protégée), or AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) in wines before 2012. For this highest tier, wine must come from designated areas with restrictions on the grape varieties, winemaking methods, and flavor profile.

Another third of wines are IGP (Indication géographique protégée), or Vin de Pays before 2012. These too are judged to meet the character of a region's wine, but have fewer restrictions than AOP/AOC wines.

Panaché is a mix of beer and lemonade, basically a beer shandy.

Monaco is a Panaché with some grenadine syrup added.

Kir is a pleasant aperitif of white wine (in theory, Bourgogne Aligoté) or, less frequently, of champagne (then named kir royal and about twice the price of regular kir) and cassis (blackcurrant liqueur), or peche (peach), or mûre (blackberry).

Pastis is an anise-based (licorice-flavored) spirit, similar in taste to Sambuca or Ouzo, that is served with a few lumps of sugar and a small pitcher of cold water to dilute the liquor. It is traditionally enjoyed on very hot days, and as such is more popular in the south of the country but available more or less everywhere.

Crime-related emergencies can be reported to the toll-free number 17 or 112 (European emergency telephone number). Law enforcement agencies are the National Police (Police nationale) in urban areas and the Gendarmerie nationale in the countryside, though for minor crimes such as parking and traffic offences some towns and villages also have a municipal police force (Police municipale).

While it remains among the safest countries in the world, France has seen a noticeable surge in crime, mostly in large metropolitan areas that are plagued with the usual woes. Violent crime against visitors is generally rare, but pickpocketing and purse-snatching are very common, some of which can result in aggravated assaults. If the usual precautions against therse are taken, you should be safe.

The inner city areas and a few select suburbs are usually safe at all hours. In large cities, especially Paris, there are a few areas which should be avoided. Parts of the suburbs are hives of youth gang-related activities and drug dealing; however these are almost always far from tourist areas and you should have no reason to visit them. Common sense applies: it is very easy to spot derelict areas.

The subject of crime in poorer suburbs and areas is very touchy as it may easily have racist overtones, since many people associate it with working-class youth of North African and Sub-Saharan origins. You probably should not express an opinion on the issue.

While it is not compulsory for French citizens to carry identification, they usually do so. Foreigners should carry some kind of official identity document. Although random checks are not the norm, you may be asked for ID in some kinds of situations, for example if you cannot show a valid ticket when using public transportation; not having one in such cases will result in you being taken to a police station for further checks. Even if you feel that law enforcement officers have no right to check your identity (they can do so only in certain circumstances), it is a bad idea to enter a legal discussion with them; it is better to put up with it and show your ID. Again, the subject is sensitive as the police have often been accused of targeting people according to criteria of ethnicity (e.g. délit de sale gueule = literally "crime of a dirty face" but perhaps equivalent to the American "driving while black.")

Due to the international threat of terrorism, police with the help of military units, often patrol monuments, the Paris Metro, train stations and airports. Depending on the status of the "Vigipirate" plan (anti terrorist units) it is not uncommon to see armed patrols in those areas. The presence of police should be of help to tourists, as it also deters pickpockets and the like. However, suspicious behaviour, public disturbances etc., may attract police officers' attention for the wrong reasons.

In France, failing to offer assistance to 'a person in danger' is a criminal offence in itself. This means that if you fail to stop upon witnessing a motor accident, fail to report such an accident to emergency services, or ignore appeals for help or urgent assistance, you may be charged. Penalties include suspended prison sentence and fines. The law does not apply in situations where answering an appeal for help might endanger your life or the lives of others.

Carrying or using narcotic substances, from marijuana to hard drugs, is illegal whatever the quantity. The penalty can be severe especially if you are suspected of dealing. Trains and cars coming from countries which have a more lenient attitude (such as the Netherlands) are especially targeted. Police have often been known to stop entire coaches and search every passenger and their bags thoroughly.

France has a liberal policy with respect to alcohol; there are usually no ID checks for purchasing alcohol (unless you look much younger than 18). However, causing problems due to public drunkenness is a misdemeanor and may result in a night spent in the cells of a police station. Drunk driving is a severe offence and may result in heavy fines and jail sentences.

A little etiquette note: while it is common to drink beer straight from the bottle at informal meetings, doing the same with wine is normally only done by tramps (clochards).

Tap water (eau du robinet) is drinkable, except in rare cases such as in rural rest areas and sinks in railway carriage toilets, in which case it will be clearly signposted as eau non potable. Eau potable is drinkable water (you may, however, not like the taste and prefer bottled water).

Tap water is generally acceptable in taste, but mineral water (eau minérale) is generally considered to taste better, except in areas that use mountain water from the Alps for their municipal supply. Volvic and Évian are cheap and available most everywhere, and many locals consider them nothing special. You may find Vittel a more interesting-tasting inexpensive French mineral water, and Badoit, a sparkling water, is quite good.

Health care in France is of a very high standard.

Pharmacies are denoted by a green cross, usually in flashing neon (or LED). They sell medicine, contraceptives, and often beauty and related products (though these can be very expensive). Medicines must be ordered from the counter, even non-prescription medicines. The pharmacist may ask you questions about your symptoms and then can recommend various medicines and suggest generic drugs.

Since drug brand names vary across countries even though the effective ingredients stay the same, it is better to carry prescriptions using the international nomenclature in addition to the commercial brand name. Prescription drugs, including oral contraceptives (aka "the pill"), will only be delivered if a doctor's prescription is shown.

In addition, supermarkets sell condoms (préservatifs) and also often personal lubricant, bandages, disinfectant and other minor medical items. Condom machines are often found in bar toilets, etc.

Medical treatment can be obtained from self-employed physicians, clinics and hospitals. Most general practitioners, specialists (e.g. gynaecologists), and dentists are self-employed; look for signs saying Docteur (médecin généraliste means general practitioner). The normal price for a consultation with a general practitioner is €23, though some physicians charge more (this is the full price and not a co-payment). Physicians may also do home calls, but these are more expensive.

Residents of the European Union are covered by the French social security system, which will reimburse or directly pay for 70% of health expenses (30% co-payment) in general, though many physicians and surgeons apply surcharges. Other travellers are not covered and will be billed the full price, even when at a public hospital; non-EU travellers should have travel insurance covering medical costs.

Hospitals will have an emergency room signposted Urgences.

The following numbers are toll-free:

• 15 Medical emergencies
• 17 Law enforcement emergencies (for e.g. reporting a crime)
• 18 Firefighters
• 112 European standard emergency number. Operators at these numbers can transfer requests to other services if needed (e.g. some medical emergencies may be answered by firefighter groups).

15 Medical emergencies

17 Law enforcement emergencies (for e.g. reporting a crime)

18 Firefighters

112 European standard emergency number.

Smoking is prohibited by law in all enclosed spaces accessible to the public (this includes train and metro cars, and station enclosures, workplaces, restaurants and cafés) unless in areas specifically designated for smoking, and there are few of these. There was an exception for restaurants and cafés, but since the 1st January 2008, the smoking ban is also enforced in those locations. You may face a fine of €68 if you are found smoking in these places.

As well as police officers, metro and train conductors can and do enforce the anti-smoking law and will fine you for smoking in non-designated places; if you encounter problems with a smoker in train, you may go find the conductor.

As hotels are not considered public places, some offer smoking and non-smoking rooms.

Only people over the age of 18 may purchase tobacco products. Shopkeepers may request a photo ID. A pack of 20 cigarettes costs around €6.

The French adhere to a strong set of values. They cherish their culture, history, language and cuisine, which is revered by many around the globe. Once gained acquaintance, the French become warm, sincere and welcoming.

The French have an undeserved reputation from many tourists and visitors alike for being "rude" or "arrogant", but this is simply a cross-cultural misunderstanding. Communication, as in many places in Europe, tends to be straightforward and small-talk is seldom engaged in unless there's a close relationship.

The French are direct communicators. They are generally more direct at giving negative feedback than many European countries, and people tend to be unafraid of expressing their feelings, thoughts and emotions clearly. If you do or say something that offends a French person, you will be told immediately. Although it may feel like you're in the company of people who are constantly dissatisfied with everything, perhaps even yourself, do not be offended or insulted in any way as this all is not intended to make you feel bad about yourself.

The Métro subway system is a great way to get around Paris (or Lyon, Marseille, et al.), a fact which is readily apparent by the throngs of people that use it to get to work, school, and the like. If you do not ride the train at home, or if you come from a place that doesn't have a subway system, there are certain points of etiquette that you may not be aware of:

• When boarding at the station, let those exiting the train step off onto the platform before boarding, and once aboard move to the centre of the car.
• If you have luggage, move it as far out of the path of others as possible.
• Certain stations have moving walkways to cover the distances between platforms - walk on the left and stand on the right!
• Finally, the doors on French subway cars don't generally open automatically once the train has stopped at the station; rather, most cars have a small button or lever on the doors that opens them. If you should happen to be standing near the door in a crowded car you might hear someone behind you say "la porte, s'il vous plait," which means that person would like to get off the train and is asking you to open the door for him/her. Pop the door open and step aside (or down onto the platform) while that person exits the train - the driver will wait for you to get back on.

Certain stations have moving walkways to cover the distances between platforms - walk on the left and stand on the right!

It is considered very rude to be loud in a crowded place, such as in a metro car or at a restaurant. Keep in mind that, though you may be enjoying your holiday, most people around you on the métro or in other places are probably going about their daily lives and may be tired and thus will react very coldly to tourists babbling at the top of their lungs.

In many shops in France, you must ask the shopkeeper to take items from the shelf, as opposed to picking them for yourself. This applies in liquor or wine stores, some clothing stores, etc. Failure to respect this policy might result in confused and/or angered reactions from the shopkeeper.

Dress codes are fast disappearing, but if you want to avoid looking like a tourist or being seen in a negative light, then avoid white trainers, baseball caps, tracksuit pants (or tracksuits in general), shorts (though these are tolerated in the summer) and flip-flops (except at the beach). Generally speaking, business casual dress code is sufficient in cities and in all but the most formal occasions.

The usual courtesy applies when entering churches, and, although you may not be asked to leave, it is better to avoid short pants and halter tops. Men should remove any headgear when inside a church, contrary to when visiting a synagogue or mosque when you may be given a hat or headscarf to wear.

Some restaurants will frown if you come in dressed for trekking, but very few will insist upon a jacket and tie. You may be surprised by the number of French twenty-somethings who show up at a grungy bar in jacket and tie, even if obviously from a thrift shop.

Beaches and swimming pools (in hotels) are primarily used for getting a tan. Taking off your bikini top while sunbathing will not usually create a stir, if you don't mind a bevy of oglers. Taking off your bikini bottom is reserved to designated nude beaches, where wearing clothing is prohibited. People on beaches are usually not offended by a toddler being nude. Most resort cities insist on your wearing a shirt when leaving the beach area.

Because of a 1903 national law, public swimming pools require everyone to wear suitable swimming attire. They interpret this as meaning swim caps (even if you're bald) and snug-fitting, generally smaller-sized, Lycra-based swimsuits for everyone in a swimming pool. Aside from the occasional local politician posturing about the threat that modest swimsuits pose to France's secular traditions, their main goal these days is to keep you from getting sand and hair into their filtering system, so the key to success in choosing a swimsuit is to pick something that nobody would ever dream of wearing anywhere except in the swimming pool. This means that baggy or "board" swim shorts are banned, as are T-shirts, UV-protective rash guards, and other cover-ups, since you might be tempted to wear those while kicking around town all day, and then jump in the pool with all the sweat, sand, and dirt you've accumulated during the day. Most men wear skin-tight swimsuits with very short legs rather than the stereotypical Speedo bikini, and the knee-length jammers favored by competitive swimmers are usually accepted. "Unnecessary" fabric, such as women's swim skirts or the cute ruffles on some little girls' swimsuits, seem to be accepted in some pools and not others. If you're unlucky in your choice, then most public pools sell pre-approved swimsuits in vending machines on site, sometimes for rather inflated prices. Watch also for local prohibitions on sunscreen: in the quest to preserve the sometimes-elderly pool filtration systems, sunscreen may also be banned, and at any rate should have been applied at least 20 minutes before your arrival, at which point it should pose no significant threat to the pool anyway.

Breastfeeding in public is very rare, but nobody will mind if you do.

The French language has two different forms of the pronoun "you" that are used when addressing someone in the second person. Tu is the second-person singular and vous is nominally the second-person plural. However, in many situations, French speakers will use vous for the second-person singular. While one will use vous to address a group of people no matter what the circumstances, non-native speakers will invariably have some difficulty when trying to determine whether to address a person with the informal and friendly tu or the formal and respectful vous. The language even has two special verbs reflecting this difference: tutoyer (to address a person using tu), and vouvoyer (to address a person using vous), each of them carrying their own connotations and implications. Unfortunately, the rules as to when to use which form can sometimes seem maddeningly opaque to the non-native French speaker.

Generally speaking, one will only use the tu form to address someone in an informal situation where there is familiarity or intimacy between the two parties. For example, tu is used when addressing a close friend or spouse, or when an adult child is addressing a parent. Tu is also used in situations where the other party is very young, such as a parent speaking to a child or a schoolteacher to a student.

In contrast, vous is used in situations where the parties are not familiar, or where it is appropriate to convey respect and/or deference. For example, an office worker might use tu to address co-workers that he works closely with, but he would probably use vous when speaking to the receptionist whom he rarely talks to. He certainly wouldn't use tu when speaking with his boss. In that same vein, police officers and other authorities should always be addressed with vous.

If that's confusing the key thing to remember is that it's all about distance. For example, a bartender is vous up until the moment that he or she gives you a complementary drink, at which point tu becomes more appropriate, and the use of vous would be a bit ungrateful and off-putting.

For foreigners, the best way to deal with the tu / vous problem is to address people using vous until invited to say tu, or until addressed by your first name. Doing so will look perhaps a shade old fashioned, but always respectful. In most cases, if French is not your native language most French people will overlook any such overly formal and polite language without thinking much about it anyway. Doing the opposite can be pretty rude and embarrassing in some situations, so it's probably best to err on the side of caution.

Simplified: Use vous unless:

• the person is genuinely your friend;
• the person is under 16; or
• you've been explicitly told to use tu

If talking to someone you don't know well enough to use tu with, you should always address them initially as Monsieur (for a man) or Madame / Mademoiselle (for a woman) — the issue doesn't arise with children, who are always tu. Bonjour Monsieur (for instance, on entering a shop with a male shopkeeper) is much more polite than just bonjour. But this creates further complications when addressing women. Traditionally, Madame is used to address married women, and Mademoiselle for younger and/or unmarried women. However, many find the practice to be sexist, and unless you know someone prefers to be addressed as Mademoiselle it's better to use Madame. Addressing a waiter as garçon ("boy") is very rude (despite what you may have seen in films).

French people generally enjoy debates, discussions, and friendly arguments, but some topics should be treated more delicately or indirectly:

Politics:

• Unless you really follow French news closely, you should steer clear of discussing French politics, especially sensitive issues such as immigration. Be aware of the position that being a foreigner puts you in. It is considered rude to ask a person point-blank about which candidate they voted for in an election; instead, talk about the issues and take it from there.

Religion:

• It is generally considered impolite to have a conversation about religion with someone you do not know well. The French are fiercely protective of their tradition of secularism (laïcité). For instance, the wearing of religious items of clothing, such as hijabs, kippas or crucifixes, is illegal for public servants when they are at work, and for all students and staff at public schools. It is also illegal to cover your face in public, which effectively outlaws the burqa (and masks, balaclavas etc.) This has been interpreted by some as an anti-Muslim law.
• France remains a majority Roman Catholic country, though due to the culture of secularism, religion plays virtually no role in French public life, and church attendance levels are among the lowest in the world. However, you are still expected to behave in a respectful manner when visiting churches.

Money:

• You should also avoid presenting yourself through your possessions (house, car, etc.). It is considered to be quite crass to discuss your salary, or to ask someone else directly about theirs. Instead express your enthusiasm about how great are the responsibilities, or how lucky you were to get there, etc.

City/rural differences:

• While roughly one sixth of the country's population lives in the Paris region, don't treat France as Paris or assume that all French people act like Parisians. Life in Paris can be closer to life in London or New York City than in the rest of France, and Parisian customs and opinions differ from those found en province. Brittany, Corsica and the Basque Country in particular have their own national identities.

To call a French number from abroad, dial: international prefix + 33 + local number without the leading 0. For example: +33 2 47 66 41 18

All French numbers have 10 digits. The first two digits are:

• 01 for the Paris region
• 02 for the north west
• 03 for the north east
• 04 for south east
• 05 for south west
• 06 for cellphones
• 07 also for cellphones
• 08 have special prices that can be deduced from the two following figures: from free - 08 00 - to very costly (as far as €20.40 per hour) - 08 99. Skype numbers also start with 08.
• 09 if they are attached to voice-over IP telephones connected to DSL modems from French DSL providers that integrate such functions.

You cannot drop the first two digits even if your call remains within the same area. The initial '0' may be replaced by some other digit or longer code indicating a choice of long-distance operator. Don't use this unless explicitly told to.

When speaking phone numbers, people will usually group the digits by sets of two. For example, 02 47 66 41 18 will be said as "zéro deux, quarante-sept, soixante-six, quarante et un, dix-huit". The two-digit pair 00 is said as "zéro zéro", not "double zéro". If you find it too hard to follow, you may ask the person to say the number digit-by-digit ("chiffre par chiffre"). It would then be "zéro, deux, quatre, sept, six, six, quatre, un, un, huit".

There are few companies that provide toll-free numbers (often starting with 08 00) and there are also numbers which start with 081, for which you pay the cost of a local call regardless of where you are in the country.

Numbers starting with 089 carry a premium toll. They provide service to some legitimate businesses but the ones you see advertised all over the country are usually for adult services.

Emergency numbers are 15 (medical aid), 17 (police station) and 18 (fire/rescue). You can also use the European emergency number 112 (perhaps a better choice if you don't speak French). These calls are free and accessible from virtually any phone, including locked cellphones. In case of a serious emergency, if you find a code-protected cellphone, enter a random code three times: the phone will lock, but you will be able to dial emergency numbers.

01 for the Paris region

02 for the north west

03 for the north east

04 for south east

05 for south west

06 for cellphones

07 also for cellphones

08 have special prices that can be deduced from the two following figures: from free - 08 00 - to very costly (as far as €20.40 per hour) - 08 99. Skype numbers also start with 08.

09 if they are attached to voice-over IP telephones connected to DSL modems from French DSL providers that integrate such functions.

To enjoy cheap international calls from France travellers can get a local sim card online before they leave or use low-cost dial-around services such as appellemonde or allo2556 .

Dial-around services are directly available from any landline in France. No contract or registration is required. Most dial-around services allows you to call the USA, Canada, Western Europe and many other countries at the local rate (tarif local) so you can easily save on your phone bill. They also work from payphones, though the first minute is surcharged by France Télécom.

If you need a landline (ligne fixe) in France, use VoIP over DSL, such as the Livebox or Freebox service (free long distance calls within France and to a number of countries).

Due to the widespread use of mobile phones, phone booths have been largely dismantled. You may still find one in some rural areas that are not yet covered by mobile networks. Most use a card (no coins). They accept CB/Visa/MasterCard cards but almost always only with a microchip.

France uses the GSM standard of cellular phones (900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands) used in most of the world outside of the U.S. There are several companies (Orange, SFR, Free, Bouygues Télécom and some others MVNOs like Virgin Mobile) offering wireless service. The country is almost totally covered but you may have difficulties using your mobile phone in rural or mountainous areas. However, for emergency numbers, the three companies are required by law to accept your call if they technically can, even if you are not one of their customers, thus maximizing your chance of being helped even in areas with spotty service.

If you stay for some time, it may be advisable to buy a pre-paid cell phone card that you can use in any phone that supports the GSM standard on the 900/1800 MHz bands. Then incoming calls and SMSes are free. You can get it from most mobile service provider (Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom), but they have a very short validity for the card if you don't recharge it.

An Orange pre-paid SIM card is called a Mobicarte, costs €9.90 and comes with a credit of €5 included. SMSes within Orange France cost €0.12; to international mobile GSM users €0.28. Other operators (SFR, Bouygues) have similar prices. Since 2012, the mobile operator Free offers 2€/month subscription without any minimum subscription time including 120 minutes per month and unlimited national SMSes. This is only available through the web and you need a postal address.

Internet cafés: Internet access is available in cyber cafés all over large and medium-sized cities. Service is usually around €4 per hour.

Residential broadband: In all major cities, there are multiple companies offering residential broadband service. Typical prices are €30 a month for unmetered ADSL (with speeds of up to 24 megabits per second), digital HDTV over DSL and free unlimited voice-over-IP phone calls to land lines within France and about twenty other countries (EU, US...) with external SIP access too (the price includes a modem/router/switch with integrated WiFi MiMo access point).

Wi-Fi: You'll also find wifi access (in cities and towns) in a lot of cafés usually those labelled a bit "trendy". There will be a sign on the door or on the wall. Also look for the @ symbol prominently displayed, which indicates internet availability. However, with most homes now wired for the internet, cyber cafés are increasingly hard to find, especially outside the major cities. In Paris, one popular free wifi spot is the Pompidou Centre. There is talk that the city intends to become the first major European capital providing free wifi coverage for the whole city. Public parks and libraries in Paris are also covered.

Also, check out Carrefour, most of them have free Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is prounonced "wee-fee" in France even by English speakers. Asking for "wye-fie" will generally not be understood.

(for smartphones and tablets)

Orange has nearly-unlimited Internet 1-month package for €9 called InternetMax. The official limit of 500MB is not enforced. Tethering is not allowed, but this is also not enforced. Email (POP3/SMTP/IMAP) is not covered, and sold as a separate package for €9 per month. P2P, VoIP and USENET are specifically banned, and risk getting your plan cancelled as well as the loss of any call credit remaining on your account.

To set this service up:

• buy a 'mobicarte' (generic prepaid SIM card) at an Orange outlet for €9.90 which comes included with credit of €5
• recharge it with €4 (with a credit card at an Orange outlet or with a €5-euro recharge sold at tobacco kiosks and news stands everywhere).
• turn off mobile data connection and disable all email applications using POP3/IMAP/SMTP at smartphone before inserting SIM card, otherwise it will suck up the credit well before you activate the unlimited data plan
• wait for 24 hours for the SIM card to be activated before you can add packages
• activate the InternetMax data plan with #123#. The menu is in French, refer to the link below for summary in English.
• allow several hours (officially up to 48hrs) for InternetMax to be activated. There's no notification, so check it regularly: surf a bit and check your credit with #123#

As the plan is not marketed by Orange, staff at outlets and hotline operators are often completely unaware of it, and Orange website tells very little on it even in French. If your French is poor, detailed third-party instructions can be very helpful.

Post offices ("La Poste") are found in all cities and villages but their opening hours vary. In the main cities the central office may be open during lunchtime; typically the day's opening hours are 09:00 to 18:00. Most offices are only open on Saturday morning and there is only one office in Paris which is open 24 hours and 365 days (on the Rue du Louvre).

Letter boxes are coloured in yellow.

There are three levels of service for French domestic mail (Andorra and Monaco included):

• Priority Letter (lettre prioritaire), usually arrives next day. Cost (up to 20g): €1.05
• Green Letter (lettre verte), usually arrives in two days. Cost (up to 20g): €0.88
• Economy Letter (écopli), usually arrives in four days. Cost (up to 20g): €0.86

For international mail, there is only one service:

• Priority Letter (lettre prioritaire), cost (up to 20g): €1.30 (to European Union and Switzerland), €1.30 (all other countries)

Rates correct as of May 2019.

Priority Letter (lettre prioritaire), usually arrives next day. Cost (up to 20g): €1.05

Green Letter (lettre verte), usually arrives in two days. Cost (up to 20g): €0.88

Economy Letter (écopli), usually arrives in four days. Cost (up to 20g): €0.86

Priority Letter (lettre prioritaire), cost (up to 20g): €1.30 (to European Union and Switzerland), €1.30 (all other countries)

International delivery services like FedEx and UPS are available in cities, however you generally have to call them for them to come to you as they have very few physical locations.

Another option is to simply use La Poste with a wide network around the country and the same services as its competitors.