France - Ranska

France[1] is located In Europe. France receives the most tourists in the world, last year 78 million people visited the country.

Regions

European France is divided into 22 regions.

• Alsace (Alsace) Belonged to Germany from 1871 to 1918, which explains the German name for Alsace. The influence of German culture is reflected in food and wine culture, as well as architecture.
• Aquitaine Historic Aquitaine west of Midi-Pyrènees. The area is known for its Bordeaux and surrounding wines, sandy beaches, and delicacies from the Dordogne region (e.g. foie gras and truffles).
• Auvergne Known for the French central highlands, the Massif Central, with its distinctive volcanic cones.
• Basse-Normandie Camembert and Calvados are the most famous products in Normandy. The province was also a favorite of the Impressionists.
• Burgundy Known for mustard, snails and burgundy butter (boeuf bourgoignon).
• Brittany Brittany’s long coastline has sandy beaches and small fishing villages.
• Center Known for its Renaissance castles, historic towns, river valley scenery and especially the Loire River.
• Champagne-Ardenne The homeland of champagne.
• Corsica (Corse) Located in the Mediterranean off the coast of Provence, where you can admire the architecture of the rulers of Pisa and Genoa.
• Franche-Comté It is in eastern France on the Swiss border. The forested Jura Mountains are a favorite mountain for pharmacists and cross-country skiers.
• Normandy (Haute-Normandie) Province west of Paris.
• Île de France An administrative district of 11 million inhabitants in the center of which Paris is located. The most famous attraction is the castle of Versailles.
• Languedoc-Roussillion The finest memory of the area from Roman times is the wonder of ancient architecture Pont du Gard.
• Limousin Limoges, known for its fine porcelain, is located here.
• Lorraine (Lorraine) Area designated under Lothar II. Metz is the capital of Lorraine.
• Midi-Pyrénées Bordered by Spain and Andorra.
• Nord-Pas-de-Calais It is the northernmost region of France. It is home to the lively port cities of Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk.
• Pays de la Loire Le Mans ’famous 24-hour rides are organized here.
• Picardie The capital of the Picardies is the city of Amiens along the river Somme.
• Poitou-Charentes Known for La Venice Vertte ("green Venice"), a vast green area of ​​waterways.
• Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur The past can be seen in the amphitheatres built by the Romans.
• Rhône-Alpes Bordered by Switzerland and Italy. The area is home to the highest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc.

In addition, France includes the following overseas territories:

• Guadeloupe In the caribbean sea
• French Guiana In South America
• Martinique In the caribbean sea
• Reunion In the Indian Ocean

Cities

• Paris (Paris), 2,142,800 inhabitants, the capital of France and the most popular tourist destination in Europe
• Marseille, 808,000 inhabitants, a port city in the Mediterranean
• Lyon, 468 300 pp.
• Toulouse, 429,400 as.
• Nice (Nice), 345 000 as.
• Nantes, 276,200 as.
• Strasbourg, 273 100 as.
• Bordeaux, 229,500 as.
• Montpellier, 225 392 as.
• Lille, 222 400 as.
• Grenoble, 157 900 as.

See

• Disneyland Paris
• Medieval castles

Nature attractions

• Alps, mountains in the east of France.
  • Mont Blanc, The highest mountain in Europe
  • Vanoise National Park
  • Écrins National Park
• Pyrenees, mountains between France and Spain
• French Riviera

Understand

Come

By plane

Finnair flies from Helsinki To Paris, To Lyon and Nice.

By train

France has a comprehensive rail network and neighboring countries are easily accessible by train. The network operated by the French State Railways (SNCF) comprises two types of line, Grandes Lignes (long distance) and Lignes Régionaux (commuter traffic). Long-distance traffic is handled by standard Corail trains and TGV trains up to 300 km / h. Regional traffic is handled by TER trains.

There are six train stations in Paris, each with different directions to France and neighboring countries.

• French State Railways
• TGV trains
• High-speed trains e.g. From Great Britain to France

By road

By bus

By boat

There are ferry connections from France, e.g. To the United Kingdom.

Move

By train

France has good bullet train connections (TGV) [2] between the largest cities. In many cases, the TGV is a faster way of moving from one city to another than flying, and the rail network also extends far beyond the country, e.g. To England, Italy and To Holland.

Those interested in photography should note that it is difficult to photograph landscapes from the TGV due to the high speed of the train. Those traveling on "scenic routes" should consider a regular express train.

By road

Most French motorways are tolled and tolls are paid on the basis of kilometers traveled. You can get information about the cost of tolls, for example, at http://www.autoroutes.fr In general, fares are not so high that motorways should be avoided because the travel budget is not very tight.

Normally, when driving to the toll section, a coupon issued by the machine must be taken, which must be presented when leaving the toll zone. After picking up the coupon, the boom opens and the journey can continue.

When leaving a toll zone, it may be wisest for the traveler, if possible, to choose a booth instead of a vending machine where the clerk handles the funding. There are easily problems for beginners with payment machines. However, even from a payment machine, you can in principle call a clerk sitting in a nearby booth at the touch of a button. At least in 2008, Visa Electron was not accepted as a means of payment on motorways.

There are also motorways where payment is made when going on the road.

Talk

There is talk in France French. The French understand somewhat English but they don’t like to talk about it. Before the trip, you should learn a little French. Knowledge of the most common compliments in French helps to get along with the locals.

Buy

Paris is the fashion capital of the world. In the countryside you can easily find cheap and good wine. Regions and small towns often have culinary specialties to explore.

Price level

Varies. For example, in Paris fashion stores, prices are very high, but in shopping centers almost everything is cheaper than in Finland.

The price differences between places in accommodation and catering shops are quite large. Paris is an expensive city, but many small towns in remote areas bring happy surprises to the budget traveler.

Eat

French cuisine is world famous. It includes e.g. various cheeses, meat dishes, foie gras (foie gras) and snails (escargots). Even in large cities, not all restaurants may have English-language menus and some dishes may be quite exotic, so a good dictionary can be a joy.

Juo

With wine is an important place in the food culture of the country. It is drunk with food as well as anyway. Binge drinking is rare in France and the visibly drunk is subjected to general contempt. Tap water is almost invariably drinkable.

Sleep

Finding a hotel in France is very easy! Sleeping in France is completely safe!

Hotels have an official star rating system. There should be an angled blue sign on the doorway on the street, prominently marked with both the official star rating of the hotel and the year in which the stars are marked. Ratings should be comparable. The absence of a sign is suspicious.

French campsites usually do not have a kitchen reserved for guests to use.

Study

Work

Stay safe

France is a safe country for tourists, but the suburbs of major cities should be avoided, especially at night. In places where a lot of people visit, you should watch out for pickpockets. There are hardly any significant natural disasters such as floods, storms, earthquakes, etc. Admittedly, there may be dangerous wildfires on the shores of the Mediterranean during the summer, so you should be very careful with the fire.

Stay healthy

In summer, you should drink a lot, because the temperature can rise up to 40 degrees.

Respect

The French are elegant and polite. Religion is often a very personal thing. As far as communication is concerned, it would be advisable to know even a little French, as the attitude of the French towards foreigners is certainly better.

Take contact

There are many internet cafes in France. The price is usually around 4 euros and many internet cafes are marked with an @ sign.

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