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France, encompasses a great variety of landscapes, a series of high plateaux, mountain ranges and lowland basins. The pyrenees from the border with Spain to the South West, and the Jura form a border with Switzerland to the west. The highest mountain range is the Alps to the South East.
The climate is moderated by the sea with the Atlantic to the West and the Mediterranean to the south
France is a popular destination with good links to the rest of Europe.
Paris is a fantastically popular destination, with magnificent sites, as well as wonderful bars and restaurants.
The South coast mediterranean reorts are always popular and the summer holiday months on the coast are always busy.
France, or officially the French Republic is a country located on Western Europe.
It is often referred to as L'Hexagone or "The Hexagon" because of the geometric shape of it's territory. France is the largest country in the European Union and the second largest in Europe.
French art consists of the visual and plastic arts (including architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France. Currently, the earliest known European art is from the Upper Palaeolithic period of between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago and France has a large selection of extant pre-historic art from the Chatelperronian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Gravettian, and Magdalenian cultures.The early years of the twentieth century were dominated by experiments in colour and content that Impressionism and Post-Impressionism had unleashed. The products of the Far East also brought new influences. Les Nabis explored a decorative art in flat plains with the graphic approach of a Japanese print. At roughly the same time, Les Fauves, exploded into color, much like German Expressionism.
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year (78 billion bottles). France has the world's largest wine production ahead of Italy and the second-largest total vineyard area behind Spain. French wine exports make up 34.01% of the world market share, ahead of Italian (18.03%) Australian (10.24%) and Spanish (9.18%) wine.
French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced today range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally, to more modest wines usually only seen within France.
Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of terroir, which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC) system. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are allowed in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards. In 1935 numerous laws were passed to control the quality of French wine. They established the Appellation d'Origine Controlee system, which is governed by a powerful oversight board (Institut National des Appellations d Origine - INAO). Consequently, France has one of the oldest systems for protected designation of origin for wine in the world, and strict laws concerning winemaking and production. |
