Things To Do in France

- Among the 80 museums and around 200 art galleries that Paris boats, visit the Orseay Museum, located in a beautifully restored railway station, the Palais du Louvre, the Hotel des Invalides (containing Napoleon’s tomb), the Georges Pompidou Centre of Modern Art also know as Beaubourg or the wax museum, Musee Rodin.

- Relax in the Jardins du Luxembourg in Paris, close to the Latin Quarter (Boulevards St Michel and St Germain), which is the focus of most student activity (the Sorbonne University is here).
- Discover the future at the City of Science and Technology in la Villette or the Futuroscope in Poitiers.
- Play with Mickey Mouse at the EuroDisney theme park in Marne la Vallee
- Enjoy a wide range of watersports activities at France’s 3000km of coastline (ranging from the English Channel, the Atlantic coast in the north and west to the sunny shores of the French Riviera, also known as Cote d’Azur). Famous resorts include: St Enogat and St Jacut on the Emerald coast in Northern Brittanny, Etables in the bay of St Brieuc, Perros-Guirec, Tregastel and Trebeurden on the coast from Paimpol, La Grande Motte, Port Leucate and Port Bacares in Languedoc-Roussillon, Cannes, Nice, St Tropez, Golfe Juan, Juan Les Pins, Antibes and Menton, also famous for its lemon festival, on Cote d’Azur.
- Enjoy the jetsetting lifestyle of the Cote d’Azur, stroll on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, famous for its Flower Carnival in January, mingle with celebrities at the Cannes Film Festival held in January-February (website) or visit the perfumeries of Grasse.
- Sail from/to La Rochelle, today a popular vacation and sailing port in the Charente Maritime region. Close by, the islands of Oleron and Re are both connected to the mailand by bridges.
- Enjoy a wide range of winter sports in the French Alps or the Pyrenees.
- Be pampered at a spa in Biarritz, Contrexeville or Vittel.
- Go to a pilmigrage in Lourdes, in the south west, made famous since the visions of Bernadette Soubirous in the mid 19th century.
- See a bull fight at the Arenes d’Arles in the south west.
- Hit the jackpot at the casino of Monaco or the casino of Deauville, also famous for its gold course and race track .
- Have a go at a traditional game of boules (also called petanque), played in public squares, especially in the south of France. The game requires as much dexterity as social skill and visitors wishing to join in may find it easier if they speak French.
- Enjoy a wine tour or take part in harvesting the grapes: There are 10 principal wine regions including Alsace, Burgundy, Champagne, Rhone Valley, each with its own identity based on grape varieties and terroir (soil). Highlights on the wine calendar include the annual appearance of Beaujolais Nouveau (released fresh from the cellars on the third Thursday of November); the Vendanges (grape harvest) festivals in Burgundy during autumn; and champagne tasting in Champagne (with many producers in Rheims and Epernay offering free samples).

In various regions, the most famous wine routes (routes du vin), as well as special sales and auctions, are signposted. Wine tours are frequently combined with cheese tasting. In Roquefort, you can visit the windy caves that store the famous ewe’s milk cheese. For further information, see Food & Drink in the Social Profile section. An illustrated map with details of cheeses, wines and regional dishes is available from the French National Tourist Office .

- Follow the Tour de France cycling race in the summer, attend the French Open at Roland Garros near Paris, one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, go to the 24-hour motor race at Le Mans or the Monaco Car Racing Grand Prix, place your bets when going to a horse race at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which takes place in Longchamp close to the Bois de Boulogne, held on the first Sunday in October each year.
- West of the Rhone, discover the colourful and mysterious nature of the volcanic highlands of the Massif Central, historically known as Auvergne. The National Park here offers magnificent walking country - a land of water, mountains, plains and extinct volcanoes (the Cantal crater may once have been 30km/20 miles wide). There are 10 spa resorts within its boundaries, as well as many lakes, rivers and forests.
- On the far side of the Rhone is the wild, marshy area known as the Camargue, long used for the breeding of beef cattle and horses, for the evaporation of sea water to make salt and, more recently, for growing rice. Nature lovers will be delighted to see vast flocks of waterbirds nesting here in a national bird reserve, among them pink flamingos and snow-white egrets.