France
The French often call mainland France l'Hexagone, the hexagon, after its roughly six-sided outline on the map. It reaches from the Channel to the Mediterranean and from the Atlantic to the Alps, where Mont Blanc rises above every other peak in the range.
“I'd fly the Channel the way Blériot did.”
- In 1791 French scientists defined the metre as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator, measured through Paris.
- On 25 July 1909 Louis Blériot flew his monoplane from near Calais to Dover in about 37 minutes: the first aeroplane crossing of the Channel.
The land
France is the largest country in the European Union by area, a little larger than Spain. Its mainland shares borders with eight countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra and Spain. The Loire is its longest river. It runs about 1,006 km from the hills of the Massif Central to the Atlantic, and its basin covers more than a fifth of the country.
Getting around
France's high-speed trains, the TGV, began running between Paris and Lyon in 1981. The network now spreads out from Paris across much of France and into nearby countries. In 2007 a specially built TGV reached 574.8 km/h on a test run, the world speed record for a train on wheels. In Paris, the first Métro line opened on 19 July 1900, in time for that year's World's Fair.
Food
UNESCO lists two French food traditions as part of the world's living heritage. The first, added in 2010, is the gastronomic meal of the French: a meal for a birthday, a wedding or a reunion, with at least four courses, from a starter to cheese and dessert. The second, added in 2022, is the baguette, for the bakers' skill and the daily habit of buying fresh bread.
Visitors
France welcomes more foreign visitors than any other country: about 100 million in 2024, more than any country had seen in a single year.
Fly over France.
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City 1 of 21Paris
The iron tower
“I saw Paris the way the birds do. The river shines, and the tower looks like iron lace.”
I'd fly between its four legs. Its keepers are The Carousel Horse and the Stryge.
Every journey starts in Paris. Clear it and the map opens the way to New York, Tokyo and Cairo.
