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Tourist attractions France
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INFORMATION FOR VISITORS TO FRANCE
La Rochelle
Superbly intact as a medieval port, thanks to the efforts of a past communist mayor whose legacy includes the free bicycles you can ride around town, La Rochelle offers beautiful beaches, delicious seafood, and boat trips to surrounding islands.
The French Alps
The French Alps are glorious in summer. To go walking, take one of the many ski lifts that operate year-round. Pretty towns to visit include Annecy, on its turquoise lake, set against the peaks of La Tourette.
Paris
There is so much life on the streets of Paris, plus a tremendous amount of public art and wonderful architecture, that just wandering the streets is a delight and doesn't cost you any money. The city centre is very compact so there's little chance of getting lost.
Champagne
If you like drinking bubbly, there's no greater experience than quaffing the stuff in the region where it's made. A visit to Reims will enable you to catch one of France's most impressive Gothic cathedrals, as well as take in several caves, including the famous Veuve Cliquot-Ponsardin.
Chartres Cathedral
Go to Chartres and see the Cathédral Notre-Dame, whose greatest asset is its magnificent rose window. Situated on the hilltop, the enormous building has plenty of other enthralling visible wonders, such as the geometry of the building and the 130 other stained glass windows.
Provence
From its Medieval hilltop villages, through a rich agricultural countryside of vineyards, olive groves and fields of sunflowers, to the fascinating cities of Arles and Aix en Provence, this is perhaps the most irrestistible area of France.
Cheese
For cheese, head for Normandy, particularly the area known as the Pays d'Auge, whose lush green fields help produce the rich milk so essential for the area's delicious Camembert.
Cycling
The country which runs the world's most famous bike race (the Tour de France) is a rewarding place to cycle, and you may even get bigger servings in local restos if you indicate your means of transport. You don't have to rely entirely on pedal power, however - you can take bikes on certain trains for free.
Camargue
The Camargue is a flat, marshy delta area, with flamingo-filled lagoons. Its long stretches of coastline include the popular resort of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, which offers plenty of facilities, and less commercialized areas, such as the plage de Piemancon.
Marseille
Marseille, the second most populous city of France, though undeniably deprived, is a wonderful place to visit. It's a down-to-earth yet cosmopolitan city which spirals out from the old port. To check out its excellent seafood cuisine try the cours Julien behind the Vieux Port's southern quay.
BEACHES Beaches are public property within 5m of the high-tide mark, so you can kick sand past private villas. Under a different law, however, you can't camp.
CAMERAS AND FILM Film is considerably cheaper in North America than France or Britain, so stock up before travelling. If you're bringing a video camcorder, make sure any tapes you purchase in France will be compatible. Again, American videotape prices are way below French prices.
CHILDREN AND BABIES Kids are generally welcome everywhere, and in most bars and restaurants, though French children seem to be much more well trained at a younger age in restaurant etiquette. Hotels charge by the room, with a small supplement for an additional bed or cot, and family-run places will usually babysit or offer a listening service while you eat or go out. Especially in the seaside towns, most restaurants have children's menus or will cook simpler food on request. You'll have no difficulty finding disposable nappies ( couches à jeter ), but nearly all baby foods have added sugar and salt, and French milk powders are very rich indeed. SNCF charge nothing on trains and buses for under-4s, and half-fare for 4-11s . In most museums children under 4 are free and it's usually half price for under-18s, while entry to many monuments is free for under-12s. Most local tourist offices have details of specific activities for children - in particular, many resorts supervise "clubs" for children on the beach. And almost every town down to small ones has a children's playground with a good selection of activities. Most parks, even in Paris, have a children's play area; unfortunately the majority of parks are gravelled rather than grassed and when there are lawns they are often out of bounds ( pelouse interdite ), so sprawling horizontally with toddlers and napping babies is usually not an option. Something to beware of - not that you can do much about it - is the difficulty of negotiating a child's buggy over the large cobbles that cover many of the older streets in town centres.
CONTRACEPTIVES Condoms ( préservatifs or capotes ) are available at all pharmacies, as well as from many clubs and street dispensers (10F/?1.50 for 3-4 condoms) in larger cities. You can also get spermicidal cream and jelly ( dose contraceptive ), plus the suppositories ( ovules, suppositoires ) and (with a prescription) the Pill ( la pillule ), a diaphragm ( le diaphragme ) or IUD ( le sterilet ). Test sticks ( tests réactifs ) for the Persona monitor (only available in Europe) are readily available in pharmacies for 95F/?14.49 per packet.
ELECTRICITY This is almost always 220V, using plugs with two round pins. If you haven't bought the appropriate transformer before leaving home, the best place in France to find the right one is the electrical section of a department store, where someone is also more likely to speak English; cost is around 60F/?9.15.
FISHING You get fishing rights by becoming a member of an authorized fishing club - tourist offices have details.
LAUNDRY Laundries are common in French towns - look in the phone book under "Laveries Automatiques". They are often unattended, so come pre-armed with small change. Machines are normally graded into 5kg, 8kg or 10kg wash sizes, and the smallest costs around 12F/?1.80 for a load, though some laundries only have bigger machines and charge around 20F/?3. If you're doing your own washing in hotels, keep quantities small as most forbid doing any laundry in your room.
PEDESTRIANS French drivers pay no heed to pedestrian/zebra crossings marked with horizontal white stripes on roads. It is very dangerous to step out onto one and assume drivers will stop as in Australia and Britain. Take just as great care as you would crossing at any other point. Also be careful at traffic lights: check cars are not still speeding towards you even when the green man is showing.
PETROL The cheapest gas ( essence ) or diesel fuel ( gasoil ) can be bought at out-of-town superstores. Four-star is super ; unleaded is sans plomb .
SAFE SEX Paris has the highest number of people suffering from AIDS of any city in Europe, and studies show that there are almost equal numbers of heterosexual and homosexual people who are HIV-positive. Among heterosexuals (excluding drug users) the number of women who are HIV-positive has overtaken men.
SWIMMING POOLS Swimming pools ( piscines ) are well signposted in most French towns and reasonably priced, usually around 16F/?2.44 for a swim. Tourist offices have their addresses. You may be requested to wear a bathing cap, whether you are male or female, so come prepared.
TIME France is one hour ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) throughout the year. It is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, and nine hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. This also applies during daylight savings seasons, which are observed in France (as in most of Europe) from the end of March through to the end of September.
TOILETS Ask for les toilettes or look for signs for the WC (pronounced "vay say"); when reading the details of facilities outside hotels, don't confuse lavabo , which means washbasin, with lavatory. Usually found downstairs along with the phone, French toilets in bars are still often of the hole-in-the-ground squatting variety, and tend to lack toilet paper. Standards of cleanliness are often not high, and men shouldn't expect much privacy in the urinal, which often won't have a door. Both bar and restaurant toilets are usually free, as are toilets in museums, though toilets in railway stations and department stores are commonly staffed by attendants who will expect a bit of spare change. Some have coin-operated locks, so always keep 50 centimes and one and two franc pieces handy for these and for the frequent Tardis-like public toilets found on the streets. These beige-coloured boxes have automatic doors which open when you insert coins to the value of two francs, and are cleaned automatically once you exit. Children under 10 aren't allowed in on their own.
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