The French state protects craft businesses with the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label, and many of them open their workshops. Grasse has made perfume since the sixteenth century and still supplies the industry; Limoges is porcelain; Lorraine is Baccarat and Daum crystal; Quimper is faience; Calais is lace; Lyon was silk. In Paris the same instinct produced the department store and the covered passage, and Troyes invented the factory outlet village.
Start here
If you only do shopping & savoir-faire once in France.
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Lille's Grand'Place Flemish gables round the old stock exchange, and a second-hand book market inside it -
Place Stanislas Gilded ironwork round one of the great squares of Europe -
Paris The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and twenty arrondissements of it -
Troyes Half-timbered Champagne capital, and the original factory outlets -
Quimper Cornouaille's capital — twin spires, faience and the Festival de Cornouaille -
Cannes The Croisette, the festival, and two islands ten minutes offshore
Region by region
Hauts-de-France
Flemish belfries, the Opal Coast and the battlefields of the Somme
Grand Est
Champagne cellars, the Alsace wine road and Strasbourg's Christmas markets
Normandy
The D-Day beaches, Mont-Saint-Michel, Monet's Giverny and the alabaster cliffs
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Bordeaux and its vineyards, the Dordogne's prehistory, and Europe's tallest dune
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Mont Blanc, the world's largest linked ski areas, Lyon's kitchens and a chain of volcanoes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Lavender and Roman arenas inland, the Riviera on the coast, and the Alps behind both
Overseas collectivities
French, but outside the region geography.
Other things to do
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Culture & heritage 53 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the cathedrals that invented Gothic -
Food & wine Seventeen wine regions, 1,600 cheeses, and the gastronomic meal on the UNESCO list -
Nature & outdoors Glaciers, gorges, volcanoes and 180,000 km of waymarked footpath -
Sport & adventure Skiing, surfing, climbing, paddling — and the Tour, Roland-Garros and Le Mans -
Cycling Over 25,000 km of signed cycle route, most of it flat and away from traffic -
Remembrance The Somme, Verdun and the Normandy beaches — two wars written into the landscape -
Pilgrimage & spirituality Four Camino routes, Lourdes, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Romanesque abbeys -
Spa & wellness Around 90 working thermal spa towns, and the coastline that invented thalassotherapy -
Romance The Riviera corniche, a Loire château, a Provençal village, a Paris weekend -
Nightlife & entertainment Festival season, cabaret, beach clubs and the theme parks