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France, officially called as the French Republic is located in the Western Europe. It is the largest country in the European Union by area. France has been in power for many centuries with strong economical, military, cultural and political background. Let’s take a quick look at some of the interesting facts about France:

1. Nearly 20% of France lies outside Europe. These regions are known as “DOM-TOM”, where 2.5 million French citizens live

2. The Statue of Liberty was made in France, and given to the United States as a gift. The statue’s face is carved keeping in mind the face of Isabella Eugenie Boyer, who is the Parisian sewing machine manufacturer Isaac Singer’s wife

3. The April fool’s day (April Fish to the French) is believed to have originated in France when the nation switched to the Gregorian calendar. Those who were not aware about the change in calendar thought April 1st was New Year’s Day. Since then fools day originated to make fun of them

4. Eiffel Tower is the Symbol of France and it is the tallest building

5. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is one of the beautiful churches in France. It is also a classic example of the church that is built in the ancient Gothic style

6. France is considered to be the birthplace of Gothic art as well as Baroque architectural style. The Gothic art was initially known as French Art

7. French cuisine is considered to be the best in the world

8. The farms in France occupy 10% of the land area

9. Mount Blanc is the highest Mountain in the Alps and Western Europe

10. The Gavarnie Falls is the tallest waterfall in France that ranges up to 422 meters

11. The largest urban population is recorded in Paris

12. Loire is the longest river with a length of 1,013 kilometers

13. La Marseillaise is the National Anthem of France

14. Iris is the national flower of France

15. Gallic Rooster is the national animal of France

16. The National Day is celebrated on the 14 July

17. Mona Lisa, world known painting hails from France

18. French was the official language of England for over 300 years

19. France produces more nuclear electricity when compared to Germany, Spain, Russia and the UK

20. Marianne is the national emblem of the French Republic

By: Pallavi A

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france travel

If you are decided to do a trip to Europe, or you are a European inhabitant planning to tour the continent, the first decision you should take is to know exactly which part of it do you want to explore, or which cities you are planning to stay in. To give a bit of guidance in your decision, this article looks at one of the popular regions in Europe: France and the Benelux, being this last one the area that includes Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg.

One thing is for sure if you are visiting this zone of Europe. You must be in love with city tourism. If your passion is for the landscape, sightseeing, high mountains, lakes and running crystal water streams, this is probably not your place. Of course France has many interesting natural places to visit, but what I really mean is that you have better places to do this kind of tourism, such as Austria or Switzerland, which are discussed in another of my articles.

Again, the main attractive you will find in this region is the cities themselves. France has by far some of the most beautiful cities you can encounter, many of them with interesting cathedrals, churches and squares. Starting from Paris, next to the worldwide famous Eiffel Tower that so many tourists come to see from everywhere, you can walk up along Champs Elysees, considered one of the most romantic avenues in the world. Visiting the Louvre Museum will give you an insight into the past, as many treasures from the whole world are kept there inside.

Going to Belgium, you will find out that Brussels is such an impressive city too. It is not only about the monuments, but it gives this kind of cozy feeling when walking through its narrow streets. Simply enjoy every corner, and cross your fingers to claim for good weather, as it happens often that you will miss the blue of the sky. Luxembourg is a very small country placed just next to Belgium, but the capital claims for itself to be an independent region. Far from being of the size of Paris or Brussels, it gives many sightseeing opportunities.

One thing to know about this region, even if the train transport can be very good, is that at same time it will be incredibly boring. The landscape is pretty much always the same. Unless you are one of those rail lovers, I highly encourage you to take one of this quick Ryanair flights to cover the big distances. In any case, the train will be useful for the short rides, or in case you have bought one of this rail passes for the whole region.

The similarity that puts together all this people is their language. In any case, we can find very big differences between its habitants. While the French nation has adopted a kind of more luxurious and fashionable life-style, their partners in Belgium are a lot more into the casual way of life. When it comes to characters, you will find the French more arrogant, while the people in Belgium and Luxembourg are from my point of view the most nice guys you can find in the whole Europe.

Whatever you do, in conclusion, take with you the reminder that you go this region to specially admire architecture and beautifully designed cities with a lot of history to tell you. Forget a bit about the natural spots as you can find them in other places in Europe and… Practice your French!

By: Dani Alonso

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Many people with France travel on their agenda would like to brush up on their French language skills before their trip. Make no mistake, learning a foreign language is very difficult. However, if you studied the French language in high school or college you might be able to put some of that long-ago effort to good use. Being able to communicate, even with only a few words at your disposal, can make a trip much more fun, and it will perhaps help you figure out where you made that wrong turn before becoming lost!

Here are two ways to brush up your French language skills:

1. For a number of months I’ve subscribed to a great little free service called French Word A Day. This is a daily email from Kristin Espinasse, an American originally from Phoenix who married a Frenchman and now lives with her family in Provence. Although the implication is that you’ll receive one word per day, Kristin provides a good bit more. The theme for each email is in fact one word, but there are also variations on the word, phrases using the word and variations, and a daily proverb which contains the word as well. A recent addition is an audio link to hear the word pronounced properly. Furthermore, Kristin writes an essay she calls “A Day in a French Life” and uses numerous other French words woven into her English text. She summarizes these words at the bottom of the article, which makes an easy reference for additional words. Thus there is an opportunity to learn or relearn a number of words each day. Each email has a link to her web site with a daily photo of France. In addition, on the web site are listed the last ten words and their accompanying phrases, proverbs, etc. as described above, so one can look over quite a few words right away, even if your trip is coming up soon.

This is certainly an excellent review process for French vocabulary. Oftentimes I’ll see a word or phrase I recognize but can’t quite pin down the translation exactly. For example, a recent word was “le lendemain” (the next day). Included was a phrase I’ve heard before numerous times, “du jour au lendemain”. I always thought this meant “from one day to the next”, which is
a literal translation. However, it really means “suddenly”, sort of like jumping from one day into the next. It’s helpful to pick up nuances like that, and I’m sure I’ll remember this the next time I hear it in a French conversation. In order to help retention, it is useful to print out the daily entry and keep a file to review from time to time. It’s only by seeing words numerous times that they can become part of your vocabulary. By the way, Kristin has compiled her essays into 3 books which she sells on line, and those proceeds help defray the costs of Word a Day so that it remains a free service. Of course buying the books gives you access to many words at once, so that is another excellent option for improving or reviewing your French
vocabulary. To subscribe or purchase books, you can follow the link above.

2. For those with a little more time and motivation another excellent tool is a French language course on CD called a l’ecoute de la langue francaise which translates to “listening to the French language”. I’ve used this excellent product and have found it to be a great review of French vocabulary and grammar. There are 108 lessons broken up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced categories, and all this takes 12 hours total of listening time on the CD. At the end of each lesson there is a quick review test. There is both text and audio for each lesson, so I find the best method is to print out the lesson, look it over, and then listen to the audio, reading the text at the same time prior to taking the review test. The audio for the beginner lessons is in English, but both the Intermediate and Advanced are in French. There is a lot of material packed into these twelve hours, so I would recommend a pace of 2 or 3 lessons per week maximum, each week reviewing the previous week’s work. In this way there is some repetition and also some time between lessons for the material to sink in. The price for the program is 60 euros if ordered on line, and this includes shipping and a one year subscription to a monthly email newsletter that has interesting articles about French current events, culture, politics, etc., written in French. The web site offers numerous other services and products, such as audio books to listen to, as well as a service to exchange email or even voice recordings with a French professor who will critique the work and offer suggestions for improvement. The company is located in beautiful Lyon, France, and you can find all their products and services by following the link above in this paragraph.

Au revoir et bonne chance!

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