The sheer physical diversity of France would be hard to exhaust in a lifetime of visits. Landscapes range from the fretted coasts of Brittany and the limestone hills of Provence to the canyons of the Pyrenees and the halfmoon bays of Corsica, and from the lushly wooded valleys of the Dordogne and the gentle fields of the Loire valley to the glaciated peaks of the Alps. Each region looks and feels different, has its own style of architecture, its own characteristic food and often its own dialect. Though the French word pays is the term for a whole country, people frequently refer to their own region as mon pays - my country - and this strong sense of regional identity has persisted despite centuries of centralizing governments, from Louis XIV to de Gaulle. Industrialization came relatively late to France, and for all the millions of French people that live in cities, the idea persists that theirs is a rural country. The importance of the land reverberates throughout French culture, mani festing itself in areas as diverse as regional pride in local cuisine and the state's fierce defence of Europe's agricul tural subsidies. Perhaps the most striking feature of the French countryside is the sense of space.

There are huge tracts of woodland and undeveloped land without a house in sight, and, away from the main urban centres, hundreds of towns and villages have changed only slowly and organically over the years, their old houses and streets intact, as much a part of the natural landscape as the rivers, hills and fields. Despite this image of pastoral tranquillity, France's history is notable for its extraordinary vigour. For more than a thousand years the country has been in the vanguard of European development, and the accumulation of wealth and experience is evident everywhere in the astonishing variety of things to see, from the Dordogne's prehistoric cave-paintings and the Roman monuments of the south, to the Gothic cathedrals of the north, the chateaux of the Loire, and the cutting-edge architecture of the grands projets in Paris. This legacy of history and culture - la patrimoine - is so widely dispersed across the land that even the briefest of stays will leave the visitor with a powerful sense of France's past. France encompasses much of the class and style associated with Europe and with all inclusive holidays you can spend more on discovering this first hand!

The importance of these traditions is felt deeply by the French state, which fights to preserve and develop its national culture perhaps harder than any other country in the world, and private companies, who also strive to maintain French traditions in arenas as diverse as halite couture, pottery and, of course, food. The fruits of these efforts are evident in the subsidized arts, notably the film industry, and in the lavishly endowed and innovative museums and galleries. From colonial history to fishing techniques, aeroplane design to textiles, and migrant shepherds to manicure, these collections can be found across the nation, but, inevitably, first place must go to the fabulous displays of fine art in Paris, a city which has nurtured more than its share of the finest creative artists of the last century and a half, both French - Monet and Matisse for example - and foreign, such as Picasso and Van Gogh. There are all kinds of pegs on which to hang a holiday in France: a city, a region, a river, a mountain range, gastronomy, cathedrals, chateaux. All that open space means there's endless scope for outdoor activi ties - from walking, canoeing and cycling to skiing and sailing - but if you need more urban stimuli - clubs, shops, fashion, movies, music - then the great cities provide them in abundance.

Travelling around France is easy. Restaurants and hotels proliferate, many of them relatively inexpensive when compared with other developed Western European countries. Train services are admirably efficient, as is the road network - especially the (toll-paying) autoroutes - and cyclists are much admired and encouraged. Information is highly organized and available from tourist offices across the country, as well as from specialist organizations for walkers, cyclists, campers and so on. As for specific destinations, Paris, of course, is the outstanding cultural centre, with its stunning buildings and atmospheric backstreets, its art, trendy nightlife and ethnic diversity, though the great provincial cities - Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille - all now vie with the capital and each other for prestige in the arts, ascendancy in sport and innovation in attracting visitors. For most people, however, it's the unique characters of the regions - and not least their cuisines - that will define a trip. Few holidaymakers stay long in the largely flat, industrial north, but there are some fine cathedrals and energetic cities to leaven the mix. The picture is similar in Alsace-Lorraine where Germanic influences are strong, notably in the food; to the south, the wooded mountains of the Jura provide scope for outdoor pursuits.
On the northern Atlantic coast, Normandy has a rich heritage of cathedrals, castles, battlefields and beaches - and, with its creambased sauces, an equally rich cuisine. To the west, Brittany is more renowned for its Celtic links, beautiful coastline, prehistoric sites and seafood, while the Loire valley, extending inland towards Paris, is famed for soft, fertile countryside and a marvellous parade of chateaux. Further east, the green valleys of Burgundy shelter a wealth of Romanesque hurches, and the wines and food are among the finest in France. More Romanesque churches follow the pilgrim routes through rural Poitou-Charentes and down the Atlantic coast to Bordeaux, where the wines rival those of Burgundy. Inland from Bordeaux, visitors flock to the gorges, prehistoric sites and picturesque fortified villages of the Dordogne and neighbouring Limousin, drawn too by the truffles and duck and goose dishes of Perigord cuisine. To the south, the great mountain chain of the Pyrenees rears up along the Spanish border, running from the Basque country on the Atlantic to the Catalan lands of Roussillon on the Mediterranean; there's fine walking and skiing to be had, as well as beaches at either end. Further along the Mediterranean coast, Languedoc offers dramatic landscapes, medieval towns and Cathar castles, as well as more beaches, while the Massif Central, in the centre of the country, is undeveloped and little visited, but beautiful nonetheless, with its rivers, forests and the wild volcanic uplands of the Auvergne.
The Alps, of course, are prime skiing territory, but a network of signposted paths makes walking a great way to explore too. Stretching down from the mountains to the Mediterranean is Provence, which, as generations of travellers have discovered, seems to have everything: Roman ruins, picturesque villages, vineyards and lavender fields - and legions of visitors. Its cuisine is similarly diverse, encompassing fruit, olives, herbs, seafood, lamb and an unusual emphasis on vegetables. Along the Provencal coast, the beaches, towns and chic resorts of the Cote d'Azur form a giant smile extending from the vibrantly down-at-heel city of Marseille to the super-rich Riviera hotspots of Nice and Monaco. For truly fabulous beaches, however, head for the rugged island of Corsica, birthplace of Napoleon and home to an Italian-leaning culture and cooking and some fascinating Neolithic sculptures.

The single most important factor in deciding when to visit France is tourism itself. As most French people take their holidays in their own country, it's as well to avoid the main French holiday periods - mid July to the end of August. It's at this time that almost the entire country closes down, except for the tourist industry itself.You can easily walk a kilometre and more in Paris, for example, in search of an open boulangerie, and the city seems deserted by all except fellow tourists.
Prices in the resorts rise to take full advantage and often you can't find a room for love nor money, and not even a space in the campsites on the Cote d'Azur. The seaside is the worst, but the nnountains and popular regions like the Dordogne are not far behind. Easter, too, is a bad time for Paris: half of Europe's schoolchildren seem to descend on the city. For the same reasons, ski buffs should keep in mind the February school ski break. And no one who values life, limb, and sanity should ever be caught on the roads during the last weekend of July or August, and least of all on the weekend of August 15. Generally speaking, climate needn't be a major consideration in planning when to go. If you're a skier, of course, you wouldn't choose the mountains between May and November; and if you want a beach holiday, you wouldn't head for the seaside out of summer - except for the Mediterranean coast, which is at its most attractive in spring. Northern France, like nearby Britain, is wet and unpredictable. Paris has a marginally better climate than NewYork, rarely reaching the extremes of heat and cold of that city, but only south of the Loire does the weath er become significantly warmer. West coast weather, even in the south, is tempered by the proximity of the Atlantic, subject to violent storms and close thundery days even in summer. The centre and east, as you leave the coasts behind, have a more continental climate, with colder winters and hotter summers. The most reliable weather is along and behind the Mediterranean coastline and on Corsica, where winter is short and summer long and hot.