French Program > Regions Of France
Regions Of France
Rhone-Alpes
Its two most important geaographical features, the Alps and the River Rhône, give to this region both its name and its dramatic character. The east is dominated by majestic snowcapped peaks, while the Rhône provides a vital conduit between North and south. The Romans recognized this strategic route when they founded Lyon over 2,000 years ago. Today Lyon, with its great museums and fine Renaissance buildings, is the second city of France.It is one of the country's most vital commercial and cultural centres as well as the indisputed capital of French gastronomy. To the North lies the flat marshlands of the Dombes and the rich agricultural Bresse plain.Here, too, are the world famous Beaujolais vineyards which, along with the Côtes du Rhône, make the region such an important wine producer. The French Alps are among the most popular year-round resort areas in the world, with internationally renowned ski stations such as Chamonix, Megève and Courchevel, and historic cities like Chambery, capital of the Savoie before it joined France. Elegant spa towns line the shore of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva).
Grenoble, a bustling university and high-tech centre, is flanked by two of the most spectacular nature reserve in France, the Chartreuse and the Vercors. To the South, orchards and fields of sunflowers give way to brilliant rows of lavender interspersed with vineyards and olive groves. Châteaux and ancient towns dot the landscape. Mountains and pretty, old-fashioned spa towns characterize the rugged Ardèche, and the deeply scoured gorges along the river Ardèche offer some of the wildest scenery in France.
Alsace-Lorraine
As border regions, Alsace and Lorraine have been fought over for centuries by France and Germany, their beleaguered past recalled by many a military stronghold and cemetery. Today the region presents a more peaceful landscape of pastel-painted villages, fortified towns and sleepy vineyards. At the northeast frontier of France, bordered by the Rhine, Alsace forms a fertile watershed between the mountains of the Vosges and the Black Forest of Germany. Lorraine, with its gently rolling landscape on the other side of the mountains, is the poorer cousin but appears more overtly French in character.
Embattled Territory
Caught in the wars between France and Germany, Alsace and Lorraine have changed nationality four times since 1871.
Centuries of strife have made border citadels of Metz, Toul and Verdun in Lorraine, while Alsace abounds with castles, from the pastiche folly of Haut-Koenigsbourg to Saverne's ruined fortress, built to guard a strategic pass in the Vosges.However, the area has a strong identity of its own, taking pride in local costumes, traditions and dialects.In Alsace, Route du Vin vineyards nudge pretty villages in the Vosges foothills.Strasbourg, the capital, is a cosmopolitan city with a 16th-century centre, while Nancy, Lorraine's historical capital, represents elegant 18th-century architecture and town planning.Much of the attraction of this region lies in its cuisine. Lorraine offers beer and quiche lorraine. In Alsace, cosy winstubs, or wine cellars, serve sauerkraut and flowery white wines, such as Riesling or Gewürztraminer.
Burgundy
Burgundy considers itself the heart of France, a prosperous region with world-renowned wine, earthy but excellent cuisine and magnificent architecture.Franche-Comté to the east combines gentle farmland with lofty alpine forests.Under the Duke of Valois, Burgundy was France's most powerful rival, with territory extending well beyond its present boundaries.By the 16th century, however, the duchy was ruled by governors appointed by the French king, but it still managed to keep its privileges and traditions.Once a part of Burgundy, Franche-Comté -the Free County- struggled to remain independent of the French crown, and was a province of the Holy Roman Empire until annexed by Louis XIV in 1674.Burgundy, now as in the past, is a wealthy region, a centre of medieval religious faith which produced Romanesque masterpieces at Vézelay, Fontenay and Cluny.Dijon is a spendid city, filled with the great palaces of the old Burgundian nobility and a collection of great paintings and sculptures in the Musée des Beaux-Arts.The vineyard of the Côte d'Or, the Côte de Beaune and Châblis yield some of the world's most venerated wines.Other richly varied landscapes - from the wild forests of the Morvan to the lush farmland of the Brionnais - produce snails, Bresse chicken and Charolais beef.Franche-Comté has none of this opulence, though its capital, Besançon, is an elegant 17th-century city with a tradition of clockmaking. Topographically the France-Comté is divided into two, with gently rolling farmland in the Saône valley and high Alpine scenery to the east.This forest country of Alpine brooks filled with trout is also the home of great cheeses, notably Vacherin and Comté, and of the characteristic yellow wine of Arbois.
Corse
Haute-Corse . Corse du Sud Corsica, where the people speak their own Italian dialect, has all the attributes of a mini-continent.There are tropical palm trees, vineyards, olive and orange groves, forests of chestnut and indigenous pine, alpine lakes and cool mountains torrents filled with trout.Most distinctive of all is the perched maquis (scrub), heavy with scent of myrtle, which Napoleon swore he could smell from the sea.The third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia, Corsica has been a problem and a bafflement to mainland France ever since 1769, when it was "sold" to Louis XV by the Genoese for 40 million francs.Before that, following years of struggle, the Corsican people had enjoyed 15 years of independence under the revered leadership of Pasquale Paoli.They understandably felt cheated by the deal with the French, and have resented them ever since.To holiday-makers visiting the island - in July and August tourists outnumber the inhabitants six to one - the Corsican/French relationship may be a matter of indifference.However, there is a strong (and sometimes quite violent) separatist movement which does deter some tourists.As a result, Corsica's wild beauty has been preserved to an extent not seen in the rest of the Mediterranean.For 200 years, from the 11th to the 13th century, Corsica was a colony of the old Tuscan republic of Pisa, whose builders founded beautifully proportioned Romanesque churches.
These buildings are, along with the megalithic stone warriors in Filitosa, the noblest monuments to be seen here.
For the rest, the birthplace of Napoleon is a place of wild seacoasts and mountain peaks, one of the last unspoiled corners of the Mediterranean: poor, unpopulated, beautiful, old-fashioned and doggedly aloof.
Brittany
Finistère . Côtes d'Armor . Morbihan . Ille-et-Villaine
Jutting defiantly into the Atlantic, France's northwest corner has long been culturally and geographically distinct from the main bulk of the country.Known to the Celts as Armorica, the land of the sea, Brittany's past swirls with the legends of drowned cities and Arthurian forests. Prehistoric megaliths arise mysteriously from land and sea, and the medieval is never far from the modern.A long, jagged coastline is the region's great attraction. Magnificient beaches line its northern shore, swept clean by huge tides and interspersed with well-established seaside resorts seasoned fishing ports and abundant oysterbeds. The south coast is gentler, with wooded river valleys and a milder climate, while the west, being exposed to the Atlantic winds, has a drama that justifies the name "Finistère" - the end of the earth. Inland lies the Argoat - once the land and the forest, now a patchwork of undulating fields, woods and rolling moorland. Parc Régional d'Armorique occupies much of, central Finistère, and it is in western Brittany that Breton culture remains most evident.In Quimper, and in the Pays Bigouden, crèpes and cider, traditional costumes and Celtic music are still a genuine part of the Breton lifestyle.Vannes, Dinan and Rennes, the Breton capital, have well preserved medieval quarters where half-timbered buildings shelter inviting markets, shops, crèperies and restaurants.The walled port of St-Malo on the Côte d'Emeraude recalls the region's maritime prowess, while the remarkably intact castles at Fougères and Vitré are a reminder of the mighty border-fortresses that protected Brittany's eastern frontier before its final union with France in 1532.
Normandy
Eure . Seine-Maritime . Manche . Calvados . Orne
The quintessential image of Normandy is of a lush, pastoral region of apple orchards and contented cows, cider and pungent cheese - but the region also spans the windswept beaches of the Cotentin and the wooded banks of the Seine valley. Highlights include the great abbey churches of Caen, the mighty island of Mont-St-Michel and Monet's garden at Giverny.Normandy gets its name from the Viking Norsemen who sailed up the river Seine in the 9th century. As the pillagers turned into settlers, they made their capital at Rouen - today a cultured cathedral city that commands the east of the region.Here the Seine meanders seaward past the ancient abbeys at Jumièges and St-Wandrille to a coast that became an open-air studio for Impressionist painters during the mid and late 19th century.North of Rouen are the chalky cliffs of the Côte d'Albatre. The mood softens at the port of Honfleur and the elegant resorts of the Côte Fleurie to the West. Inland lies the Pays d'Auge, with its half-timbered manor houses and patch-eyed cows.The western half of Normandy is predominantly rural, a bocage countryside of small, high-hedged fields with windbreaks composed of beech trees. The modern city of Caen is worth visiting for its two great 11th-century abbey churches built by William the Conqueror and his queen, Matilda.Close by in Bayeux, the story of Willian's invasion of England is told in detail by the town's famous tapestry. Memory of another invasion, the D-Day landings of 1944, still linger along the Côte de Nacre and the Cotentin peninsula. Thousands of Allied troops poured ashore on to these magnificent beaches in the closing stages of World War II. The Cotentin peninsula is capped by the port of Cherbourg, still a strategic naval base. At its western foot stands one of France's greatest attractions: the monastery island of Mont-St-Michel.
Champagne
Marne . Ardennes . Aube . Hute . Marne
Champagne is a name of great resonance, conjuring up images of celebration and the world-famous cathedral of Reims.
Yet beyond the glamour lies an unspoiled rural idyll of two strikingly contrasting landscapes: the rolling planes of Champagne, giving way to lakes and water meadows to the south, and the dense forests and hills of the Ardennes in the north.The so-called "sacred triangle of champagne," linking Epernay, Reims and Châlons-sur-Marne, is like a magnet for wine lovers. Here, the experience of drinking fine champagne is enhanced by gourmet meals of stuffed trout, Ardennes ham and the famous sausages called andouillettes.The sign-posted route touristique du champagne wends its way through vineyards towards endless cereal plains stretching southwards to the "lake district," an area of oak forests, water meadows and streams. On the border between France and Belgium lies the Ardennes, named after the Celtic word for deep forest.This wild border land of dramatic valleys, deciduous forests and hills is cut by the meanderings of the River Meuse. Border fortifications include the vast citadel of Sedan and the star-shaped bastion of Rocroi, as well as the Maginot Line outposts built before World War II.
The Ardennes may offer appealing countryside but Champagne is culturally superior, with impressive towns that have paintstakingly restored historic centres.It has some striking churches, from the Gothic majesty of Reims cathedral to the rustic charm of its typical wooden champenois churches.These feature vivid stained-glass windows by the famous School of Troyes, whose subtle craftmanship seems to typify the appeal of this quiet region.
Languedoc-Roussillon
Aude . Gard . Herault . Pyrenees-Orientales
The two distinct provinces of Languedoc and Roussillon stretch from the foothills of the Pyrenees on the Spanish border to the mouth of the Rhône. The flat beaches and lagoons of the coast form a purpose-built sunbelt accommodating millions of holiday-makers every year.In between is a dry, sunburned land producing half of France's table wine and the season's first peaches and cherries.Beyond such sensuous pleasures are many layers of history, not least the unification of the two provinces.The formerly independant Languedoc once spoke Occitan, the tongue of troubadours, and still cherishes its separate identity.Roussillon was a Spanish possession until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.Its Catalan heritage is displayed everywhere from the road signs to the Sardana dance, and the flavour of Spain is evident in the popularity of bullfights, paella, and gaudily painted façades.This stretch of coastline was the first place in Gaul to be settled by the Romans, their enduring legacy evident in the great amphitheatre at Nîmes and the magnificent engineering of the Pont du Gard.The abbeys of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa and Saint Guilhem-le-Désert are superb examples of early Romanesque architecture, unaffected by Northern Gothic influences. The great craggy Cathar castles and the perfectly restored medieval Cité of Carcassonne bear witness to the bloody battles of the Middle Ages.In parts, the region remains wild and untamed: from the high plateaux of the Cerdagne, to the wild hills of the Corbières or the remote uplands of Languedoc. But it also has the most youthful and progressive cities in France: Montpellier, the ancient university city and capital of the region, and Nîmes with its exuberant feria and bullfights.The whole area is typified by a insouciant mixture of ancient and modern, from Roman temples and postmodern architecture in its cities to solar power and ancient abbeys in the mountains.
Loire Valley
Indre . Indre-et-Loire . Loir-et-Cher . Loiret . Eure-et-Loire . Cher . Vendée. Maine-et-Loire . Loire-Atlantique . Sarthe
Renowned for its somptuous châteaux, the relics of royal days gone by, the glorious valley of the Loire is rich in both history and architecture. Like the river Loire, this vast region runs through the heart of French life. Its sophisticated cities, luxuriant landscape and magnificent food and wine add up to a bourgeois paradise. The lush Loire valley is supremely regal. Orleans was France's intellectual capital in the 13th century, attracting artists, poets and troubadours to the royal court. But the medieval court never stayed in one place for long, which led to the building of magnificent châteaux all along the Loire. Chambord and Chenonceaux, the two greatest Renaissance châteaux remain prestigious symbols of royal rule, resplendent with their ornamental gardens.Due to its central location, culture and fine cuisine, Tours is the natural visitor's capital.
Angers is a close second, but more authentic are the historic towns of Amboise, Blois, Saumur and Beaugency, strung out like jewels along the river.This is the classic Loire valley, a château trail which embraces the Renaissance gardens of Villandry and the fairytale turrets of Azay-le-Rideau.Venture northwards and the cathedral cities of Le Mans and Chartres reign supreme,their medieval centers bordered by Gallo-Roman walls.Nantes in the west is a breezy, forward-looking port and gateway to the Atlantic.Southwards, the windswept Vendée is edged by a wild, sandy coastline that is perfect for windsurfers and nature lovers alike.Inland, the Loire's more peaceful tributaries and the watery Sologne beg to be explored. Also ripe for discovery are the troglodyte caves, sleepy hamlets, and small Romanesque churches decorated with frescoes. Inviting inns offer game, fish and abundant fresh vegetables to be lingered over with light white Vouvray wine, or full-bodied Bourgueil. Overindulgence is no sin in this rich region.
Massif Central
Allier . Aveyron . Cantal . Corrèze . Creuse . Haute-Loire . Haute-Vienne . Lozère . Puy de Dôme
The Massif Central is the keystone of France, holding the country together by the sheer force of its grandeur.It is surprisingly little known beyond its sprinkling of spas and the major cities of Clermont-Ferrand, Vichy and Limoges.This remarkable, remote and rugged region is one of France's best-kept secrets.The huge central plateau of ancient granite and cristalline rock that makes up the Massif Central embraces the dramatic landscapes of the Auvergne, Limousin, Aveyron and Lozère. Once a testing cross-roads for pilgrims, and strung with giant volcanoes, it is a region of unsuspected richness, from the spectacular towns of Le Puy-en-Velay, to the unique treasure of Conques. With its cratere lakes and hot springs, the Auvergne is the Massif Central's lush volcanic core, an outdoor paradise offering activities from hiking in summer to skiing in winter. It also has some of France's most beautiful Romanesques churches, medieval castles and Renaissance palaces.To the east are the mountains ranges of Forez, Livardois and Velay; to the west are giant chains of extinct volcanoes, the Monts Dômes, Monts Dore and the Monts of Cantal.The Limousin, on the north-western edge of the Massif Central, is gentler country with green pastures and blissfully empty roads.The Aveyron spreads into the southwest from the Aubrac mountains, carrying with it the rivers Lot, Aveyron and Tarn through gorges and valleys with their cliff-hanging villages.To the east in the Lozère are the Grands Causses, the vast, isolated uplands of the Cévennes.Then barren plateaux give farmers a poor living, but have been a favourite route with adventurous travellers across the centuries.
Nord-Pas de Calais
Pas de Calais . Nord. Somme . Oise . Aisne
Beneath the modern skin of France's northernmost region, the sights and monuments bear witness to the triumphs and turbulences of its past: soaring Gothic cathedrals, stately châ,teaux along the river Oise, and the battlefields and memorials of World War I. The channel ports of Dunkerque, Calais and Boulogne, and the refined resort of Le Touquet, are the focal points along a busy coastline that stretches from the Somme estuary to the Belgian frontier. Boulogne has a genuine maritime flavour, and the white cliffs running from here to Calais provide the most dramatic scenery along the Côte d'Opale. Flemish culture holds sway along the border with Belgium: an unfamiliar France of windmills and canals where the local taste is for beer, hotpots and festivals with gallivanting giants. Lille is the dominant city here, a sprawling modern metropolis with lively historic heart and an excellent art museum. To the southwest, the grace of Flemish architecture is handsomely displayed in the central squares of Arras, the capital of Artois. From here to the Somme valley the legacy of World War I, with its memorial cemeteries and poppy-strewn battlefields, makes for compelling viewing. Cathedrals are the main appeal of Picardy. In Amiens, its capital, Cathédrale Notre-Dame is a pinnacle of the Gothic style - its magnificence echoed by the dizzying achievements at Beauvais further south. Splendid cathedrals at Noyon, Senlis and the delightful hilltop town of Laon chart the evolution of the Gothic style. Closer to Paris, two châteaux command attention. Chantilly, the epicentre of French equestrianism, boasts gardens by Le Nôtre and a 19th-century château housing copious art treasures. Compiègne, bordered by a large and inviting forest, plays host to a lavish royal palace favoured by French rulers from Louis XIV to Napoleon III.
Midi-Pyrenees
Dordogne . Lot . Tarn . Haute Garonne . Lot-et-Garonne . Tarn-et-Garonne . Gers . Corrèze
If archaeology is any guide, the southwest of France has been continuously inhabitated by mankind for tens of thousands of years, longer than any other area in Europe. The landscape of these historic regions seems to have an ancient familiarity, derived from centuries of people living in harmony with the land. The great cave sites around Les Eyzies and Lascaux harbour contain the earliest evidence we possess of primitive art. The castles, bastides and churches that grace the countryside from Périgueux to the Pyrénées, from the Bay of Biscay to Toulouse and beyond to the Mediterranean, belong to a far more recent past. From the coming of Christianity until the late 18th century, this lovely region was the battlefield for a string of conflicts. The English fought and lost the Hundred Years' War for Aquitaine (1345-1453); this was followed by intermittent Wars of Religion, in which Catholics fought Huguenots (French Protestants) in a series of massacres and guerilla wars. Today, nothing is left of these old struggles but crumbling ramparts, keeps and bastides which are part of the region's cultural and artistic heritage, attracting thousands of visitors every year. Yet it is as well to remember that all the great sights here have suffered at one time or another from attacks of marauding soldiers: form the abbey church at Moissac, the 12th-century portal of which is a masterpiece of Romanesque art, to the awesome clifftop site of Rocamadour. This region may seem incomparably rich in all the ingredients for a good holiday - uncluttered landscapes, empty roads, clean rivers and good regional cuisine - but the economy is fragile.Over the last century, the southwest has suffered a decline in the old peasant way of life, resulting in a population migration from the countryside to the towns.The mountains dominate life in the French Pyrénées. A region in many ways closer to Spain than France, over centuries its remote terrain and tenacious people have given heretics a hiding place and refugees an escape route. Today, it is the last remaining widerness in southern Europe and a habitat for rare animal species. Heading east from the Atlantic coast, the hills are wonderfully lush after the plains of Aquitaine. The deeper the Pyrénées are penetrated, the steeper the valley sides and the more gigantic the snow-clad peaks become. This is a magnificent, empty, dangerous country to be approached with caution and respect. In summer the region offers over 1,600 km (1,000 miles) of walking trails, as well as camping, fishing and climbing. In winter there is both cross-country and alpine skiing at the busy resorts along the border, much livelier than their Spanish counterparts. Historically, the Pyrénées are known as the birthplace of Henri IV, who put an end to the wars of Religion in 1593 and united France, though the region has been characterized more often by indepedent fiefdoms. The region's oldest inhabitants, the Basque people, have maintained their own language and culture, and their resorts of Bayonne, Biarritz and St-Jean de Luz reflect this, looking to the sea and to summer visitors for their livelihood. Inland, Pau, Tarbes and Foix rely on tourism and medium-scale industry, while Lourdes receives four million pilgrims every year. For the rest, has been regulated by agriculture, though economic restraints today are causing an exodus from the land.
Aquitaine
Deux-Sèvres . Vienne . Charente-Maritime . Charente . Gironde . Landes
This vast area of southwest France spans a quarter of the country's windswept Atlantic coastline, a great expanse of fine sandy beaches.
The region stretches from the marshes of the Marais Poitevin to the great pine forests of the Landes. Central to it is the celebrated wine region of Bordeaux and its great châteaux. The turbulent hitory of Poitou and Aquitaine, fought over for centuries, has left a rich architectural and cultural heritage. The great arch and amphitheatre at Saintes bear witness to Roman influence in the area. In the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela created an impressive legacy of Romanesque churches, such as those at Poitiers and Parthenay, as well as tiny chapels and glowing frescoes. The Hundred Year's War caused great upheaval but also resulted in the construction of mighty defence keeps by the English Plantagenet kings. As a result of the Wars of Religion, many towns and churches and châteaux were destroyed and had to be rebuilt. Present-day Poitiers is a big, thriving commercial center. To the west are historic ports of La Rochelles and Rochefort.
Further south, the wine-producing district of Bordeaux combines with Cognac, famous for its brandy, to supply an important part of the region's income. The city of Bordeaux is as prosperous today as in Roman times, combining a lively cultural scene with elegant 18th-century architecture. Its wines complement the region's cuisine: eels, mussels and oysters from the coast; and salty lamb and goat's cheese from the inland pastures.
Provence
From its herb-scented hills to its yacht-filled harbours, noother region of France fires the imagination as strongly as Provence.
The vivid landscape and luminous light have inspired artists and writersfrom Van Gogh to Picasso and from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Pagnol. The borders of Provence are defined by nature: to the west, theRhône; south, the Mediterranean; and north, where the olive treesend.
To the east are the Alps and a border which has shifted over the centuriesbetween France and Italy. Within is a contrasting terrain of plummeting gorges, Camarguesaltflats, lavender fields and sun-drenched beaches. Past visitors have left their mark. In Orange and Arles,the buildings of Roman Provincia are still in use. Fortified villages like Eze were built to withstand the Saracen pirateswho plagued the coast in the 6th century. In the 19th century, rich Europeans sought winter warmth on the Riviera,and by the 1920s, high society was in residence all year, and their elegantvillas remain. The warm sunlight nurtures intense flavours and colours. Peppers, garlic and olives transform a netful of Mediterranean fish intothat vibrant epitome of Provencal cuisine,bouillabaisse. The image of Provence bathed in sunshine is marred only whenthe bitter Mistral wind scours the land. It has shaped a peopleas hardy as the olive tree, yet quick to embrace life to the fullest themoment the sun returns.
