Member state · EU since 1952
The story
From Charlemagne through the Sun King to Napoleon, France spent a millennium as Europe's central power, and 1789 gave the modern world its revolutionary vocabulary: rights of man, left and right, the metric system. Five republics, two empires, and one restoration later, France co-founded the EU with Germany precisely to end their three-war century. It remains the Union's only nuclear power and its loudest voice on the world stage.
The people
The French treat food, language, and argument as fine arts: lunch is defended, the Académie polices the dictionary, and philosophy is a high school subject everyone actually sits. Beyond the Parisian cliché lies enormous variety, Breton fishermen, Alpine farmers, Basque pelota players, and the world's most visited country absorbs it all with a shrug.
The economy
The EU's second economy spans Airbus, luxury (LVMH is Europe's flagship company), nuclear power (some 65 percent of electricity, the world's highest share), agriculture (the EU's largest), and tourism (the world's most visited country at 100 million arrivals). The TGV network shrank the country to day trip size.
Traveling there
Paris, yes, always, but France rewards the second trip: Provence's markets, the Loire's châteaux, Normandy's D-Day beaches, Lyon's tables, Alsace's wine road. The TGV puts most of it within three hours of the capital.
Cities to visit
Beyond the cities
A medieval abbey rising from the tide like a mirage, France's most extraordinary silhouette, ringed by racing tides and salt marshes.
~3.5h from Paris: TGV to Rennes, then direct bus. Stay past sunset if you can, the crowds leave and the mount lights up.
The palace against which all palaces are measured: the Hall of Mirrors, Marie Antoinette's hamlet, and gardens that stretch to the horizon.
40 min from central Paris on the RER C. Closed Mondays. Book timed entry; go early or late and give the gardens a full afternoon.
What's on
Flower battles and giant papier-mâché floats along the Promenade du Paillon.
Free music on every corner of France on the longest day of the year.
Military flypasts, fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, and firemen's balls all night.