France seduces travellers with its unfalteringly familiar culture woven around cafe terraces, village-square markets and lace curtained bistros with their 'plat du jour' (meals of the day) chalked on the board.

When you visit a French city, you can really get a taste of the local flavors. Regional identities are strong in France; there are vast differences between a city like Lille in the north, and a city like Marseille that lies on the Mediterranean coast in the south. Paris, the city of light and the French capital of fashion will steal your heart at first glance, and when you are looking for a little variety, you can reach most other French cities in three hours or less by high-speed TGV trains or by easy flight connections.