France

Stretching from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the Italian border to the east, Provence is a geographical region and historic province in southeast France. To the south, it is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea. It included the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and portions of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse, and it roughly matches to the current administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.Marseille is the region's largest city and current capital.The area was dubbed Provincia Romana by the Romans, who established it as the first Roman province outside of the Alps. This became its current name. From their capital at Aquae Sextiae (present-day Aix-en-Provence), the counts of Provence ruled it until 1481. After then, it was a province of the French kings.In the Middle Ages, when the Pope and his Curia departed Rome, it also housed the Avignon papacy. Despite being a part of France for over 500 years, the area nonetheless possesses a unique cultural and linguistic character, especially in the interior.The area was referred to as Provincia Romana, or simply "the Roman province," during the Roman era. This term was later abbreviated to Provincia (the province), and the spelling and pronunciation changed along with the language's transition from Latin to Provençal.The climate of the majority of Provence is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers, mild winters, minimal snowfall, and lots of sunshine. From the continental climate in the northern Vaucluse to the Alpine climate inland from Nice, Provence has local variances and microclimates. The mistral, a cold, dry wind that blows down the Rhône Valley to the Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var Departments, especially in the winter, and frequently reaches speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour, is one of the key elements of Provence's climate.  

Within the administrative regions of Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire, the 280-kilometer (170-mile) Loire Valley is situated in the center of the Loire River in central France. The Loire Valley is roughly 800 square kilometers (310 square miles) in size. Because of the profusion of vineyards, fruit orchards (including cherry orchards), and artichoke and asparagus fields that border the river's banks, it is known as the Cradle of the French and the Garden of France.Since the Middle Palaeolithic, people have lived in the valley, which is famous for its ancient villages, buildings, and wines.The center region of the Loire River valley was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.The middle portion of the river valley, between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire, was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites on December 2, 2000. According to the committee, the Loire Valley is "an exceptional cultural landscape, of great beauty, comprised of historic cities and villages, great architectural monuments - the châteaux - and lands that have been cultivated and shaped by centuries of interaction between local populations and their physical environment, in particular the Loire itself." This area encompasses the French départements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, and Maine-et-Loire.According to a 2016 European Commission assessment, the Pays-de-la-Loire region's economy was mostly composed of three sectors: services (including tourism) accounted for 66.7% of employment, followed by industry (26.5%) and agriculture (3.9%). 8.8% was the unemployment rate. The region produced 5.0% of France's gross domestic product in 2015, placing it ninth in terms of economic performance. Leather goods, textiles, shipbuilding, aviation, agriculture, food processing, and the plastics industry were all significant economic sectors.For the broader Loire Valley area, the EC did not provide a report.Montrésor, a "fairytale village with a rich history" as demonstrated by "the wool market, the Halle de Cardeux,... the 16th-century Logis du Chancelier,... a riverside walk, Balcons de l’Indrois, [and]... Jardinier Bridge," was listed as one of the 20 most picturesque villages in France by The Guardian’s travel section in April 2019.

In Normandy, France, there is a tidal island and mainland municipality called Mont-Saint-Michel (pronounced Norman: Mont Saint Miché; English: Saint Michael's Mount). The island is 7 hectares (17 acres) in size and is located at the entrance of the Couesnon River close to Avranches, about a kilometer (half a nautical mile) off the northwest coast of France. The commune's total surface is 400 hectares (990 acres), of which 393 hectares (971 acres) are on the mainland.[4][5] There were 29 people living on the island as of 2019.The commune was accessible to the numerous pilgrims who visited the abbey during low tide due to its location on an island only a few hundred meters from the mainland. It was also defendable since the oncoming tide stranded, drove away, or drowned potential attackers. Throughout the Hundred Years' War, the island remained unconquered. A full-scale English attack was repulsed in 1433 by a tiny garrison.After realizing the advantages of its natural defense, Louis XI converted it into a jail. The Ancien Régime saw frequent usage of the abbey as a jail.Because of its distinctive beauty and significance as a Catholic landmark, Mont-Saint-Michel and the bay around it were included to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.It is the most popular tourist destination in France outside of Paris, with over three million visitors annually. The commune has more than 60 buildings that are designated as historical monuments.

The Palace of Versailles is a former royal house that King Louis XIV ordered built. It is situated in the Yvelines Department in the Île-de-France region of France, approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of Paris. The French government owns the palace, which has been run by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles since 1995 under the authority of the French Ministry of Culture. One of the most visited tourist destinations worldwide, Versailles' palace, park, and gardens welcome almost 15,000,000 visitors annually.In 1623, Louis XIII constructed a hunting lodge at Versailles. The château underwent multiple expansions in phases between 1661 and 1715 under his successor, Louis XIV. Both kings loved living there, and when Louis XIV relocated his court and government to Versailles in 1682, the palace became the de facto capital of France. Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI carried on this situation, mostly renovating the palace's interior, but the French court and royal family left Paris in 1789. The population of the nearby city fell, and the Palace of Versailles was mainly deserted and stripped of its belongings for the remainder of the French Revolution.From 1810 until 1814, Napoleon utilized the Grand Trianon, a secondary palace, as a summer house after being crowned Emperor; he did not occupy the main palace during this time. When the monarch was reinstated after the Bourbon Restoration, he lived in Paris, and the palace did not undergo significant restoration until the 1830s. The courtiers apartments of the southern wing were replaced by a museum of French history.Because of its significance as the epicenter of French power, art, and science in the 17th and 18th centuries, the palace and park were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.The palace, its gardens, and a few of its auxiliary buildings are listed as culturally significant monuments by the French Ministry of Culture.Generally speaking, spring (April to June) or fall (September to October) are the finest seasons to visit Versailles. The weather is delightfully temperate during these months, and the Palace of Versailles' gardens are either in full flower or exquisitely in the fall, providing the perfect setting for your visit.