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Official Name
Capital
Area
Population
GDP
Major cities

Language
Religions
Time Zones
République Française
Paris
260,558 sq mi
65,100,000
$2.900 trillion
Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nice
French
Mostly Roman Catholic
France is 6 hours ahead of the east Coast United States time, thus 9 hours ahead of the West Coast

     


Currency EURO = €. 1 EUR is divided in 100 cents
Coins: 1ct,2ct,5ct,10ct,20ct,50ct,1eur,2eur.
Banknotes: 5,10,20,50,100,200,500.
ATM are everywhere and all accept VISA cards, 50% accept American Express. They have the best exchange rate.

     

Passport
Citizens of the USA need valid passports to enter France and to re-enter their home countries. France does not allow entrance if the holder’s passport expires in under six months; returning home with an expired passport is illegal and may result in a fine.

Not allowed on board Box Cutters, Ice Axes/Ice Picks, Knives - except for plastic or round bladed butter knives, Meat Cleavers, Razor-Type Blades - such as box cutters, utility knives, razor blades not in a cartridge, but excluding safety razors. Scissors - metal with pointed tips and blades shorter than four inches. Liquids : 3-1-1 for carry-ons = 3.4 ounce bottle or less (by volume) ; 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. One-quart bag per person limits the total liquid volume each traveler can bring. 3.4 oz. container size is a security measure. click here for other items.
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General
A United Nations report issued a few years ago rated French healthcare as the best system in the world. If you fall ill in France, but it is not an emergency, you would have to see a general practitioner, or generaliste in French. If you need a doctor after hours or on weekends, you will have to see a doctor on call, or a médecin de garde in French. To do this you must call the SAMU or 112, the French emergency medical services. French pharmacies are easily recognizable by the green neon cross and they can be found anywhere, even the smallest towns or villages.

Recommended There are no inoculations or vaccinations officially needed to enter France and in general, there are no major health risks for travelers visiting the country.
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Climate & Weather
Despite its northern latitude, Paris never gets very cold. June is the driest Month. The Mediterranean coast of France has the country’s driest climate. Residents of Provence dread le Mistral (an unrelenting, hot, dry wind) which blows in the summer and can last for weeks.

Average Temps, Hi/Lo Jan : 43/34    Feb : 45/34    Mar : 51/38    Apr : 57/40    May : 64/49    Jun : 70/54
Jul  : 75/58    Aug : 75/57    Sep : 69/52    Oct : 59/46    Nov : 49/39    Dec : 45/36
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Musée du Louvre
The Musée du Louvre is the national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement. Nearly 35,000 objects from the 6th century BC to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 652,300 square feet. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II.

Notre-Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame de Paris ('Our Lady of Paris' in French) is a Gothic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris. This Gothic masterpiece took almost 200 years to build. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, unlike that of earlier Romanesque architecture.

Tour Eiffel
Originally built to impress visitors to the Universal Exposition of 1889, the Eiffel Tower was a temporary addition to Paris, but has remained and become the symbol of the city. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in Paris. More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889 making it the most visited paid monument in the world.

Château de Versailles
During a 50 years span, the Palace of Versailles was transformed from Louis XIII’s hunting lodge to arguably the world’s most magnificent palace. Utilizing the talents of 35,000-45,000 builders, marshes were drained, forests were moved and an opulence was created that would never be duplicated. From the beautiful hall of Mirrors to the Grands Appartements to the stunning Gardens, Versailles itself is a reason to visit France.

Champs Elysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and stunning trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and with rents as high as $1.5 million per 1,000 square feet of space, it remains the most expensive strip of real estate in Europe. The name is French for Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed dead in Greek mythology.

Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris on the left bank of the Seine, housed in the former railway station, the Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts edifice built between 1898 and 1900. It holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist masterpieces by such painters such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Cezanne.

Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin contains most of Rodin's significant creations, including The Thinker and The Kiss. Many of his sculptures are displayed in the museum's extensive garden. The museum is one of the most accessible museums in Paris. Rodin used the Hôtel Biron as his residence from 1908, and subsequently donated his entire collection of sculptures (along with paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he had acquired) to the French State on the condition that they turn the building into a museum dedicated to his works.

Musée Picasso
The Musée is an art gallery located in the Hôtel Salé in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris. The Musée Picasso contains more than 3000 different works of art by Pablo Picasso including drawings, ceramics and paintings. This is complemented by Picasso's own personal art collection of works by other artists, including Cézanne, Degas, Rousseau, Seurat, de Chirico and Matisse. It also contains some Iberian bronzes and a good collection of primitive art. One of the most impressive aspects of the museum is that it contains a large number of works which Picasso painted after his seventieth birthday.

Latin Quarter
Known for its lively atmosphere and bistros, the Latin Quarter is the home to a number of higher education establishments besides the university itself. This old part of the city between the Seine river and Luxembourg Gardens is filled with bookstores, cafés, movie theaters and jazz clubs. This area is the nerve center of the young Paris. The area gets its name from the Latin language, which, as the international language of learning in the Middle Ages, was once widely spoken in and around the University.

Lyon
For several centuries Lyon has been known as the French capital of gastronomy, due, in part, to the presence of many of France's finest chefs in the city and its surroundings (e.g. Paul Bocuse). This reputation also comes from the fact that two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Côtes du Rhône to the South. The Saint-Jean and the Croix-Rousse areas, which are noted for their narrow passageways (traboules) that pass through buildings and link the streets either side, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998.

Notre Dame de Reims
Notre-Dame de Reims (Our Lady of Rheims) is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Reims, where the kings of France were once crowned. It replaces an older church, destroyed by a fire in 1211, which was built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in AD 496. That original structure had been erected on the site of the Roman baths. As the cathedral it remains the seat of the Archbishop of Reims.

Palais des Papes
The Palais des Papes is a historical palace in Avignon, southern France, one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Since 1995, the palais des Papes is classified with the historic center of Avignon, on the World Heritage Site of the Unesco. Avignon became the residence of the Popes in 1309, when the Gascon Bertrand de Goth, as Pope Clement V, unwilling to face the violent chaos of Rome after his election (1305), moved the Papal Curia to Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy.

Pont du Gard
The Pont du Gard is an aqueduct in the South of France constructed by the Roman Empire during the 1st century, and located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins. The majority of the Pont du Gard remains impressively intact. It was constructed entirely without the use of mortar. The aqueduct's stones – some of which weigh up to 6 tons – were precisely cut to fit perfectly together eliminating the need for mortar. Designed to carry the water across the small Gardon river valley, it was part of a nearly 50 km (31 mi) aqueduct that brought water from the Fontaines d'Eure springs near Uzès to the Castellum in the Roman city of Nemausus (Nîmes).

Carnac
Carnac is famous as the site of more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones. The stones were hewn from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Carnac (Breton= Karnag) is a commune beside the Gulf of Morbihan on the south coast of Brittany in northwestern France.

Cathar Castles
Cathar castles (in French Châteaux cathares) is a modern term to designate a series of fortresses built by the French king on the southern border of his lands at the end of the Albigensian Crusade during the 13th century. Some of these sites, before the royal period, were fortified villages capable of sheltering Cathars and which were destroyed during the building of citadels.

Mont St Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel was used in the sixth and seventh centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Romano-Breton culture and power, until it was ransacked by the Franks, thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in AD 460. It's a rocky tidal island in Normandy. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country's north coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River.

Gorges du Verdon
The Verdon Gorge (in French: Gorges du Verdon or Grand canyon du Verdon), in south-eastern France (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), is a river canyon that is considered by many to be Europe's most beautiful. It is the world's second largest gorge, at about 25 kilometers in length and up to 700 meters deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named after its startling turquoise-green colour, one of the canyon's most distinguishing characteristics. The most impressive part lies between the towns of Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, where the river has cut a ravine up to 700 metres down through the limestone mass.

Carcassonne
Carcassonne (Occitan: Carcassona) is a fortified French town in the Aude departement, in the former province of Languedoc. Since the pre-Roman period, a fortified settlement has existed on the hill where Carcassonne now stands. In its present form it is an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town, with its massive defences encircling the castle and the surrounding buildings, its streets and its fine Gothic cathedral. Carcassonne is also of exceptional importance because of the lengthy restoration campaign undertaken by Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of the modern science of conservation.

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Hello
Good day
Good afternoon
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Good-bye
Thank You
Yes
No
Maybe
Excuse me
Howe are you ?
I Don’t understand
What time is it ?
Where is
I’d like to go to..
How much ?
You are welcome
Okay
Do you speak English ?
Very well
I’m sorry

Salut
Bonjour
Bonne après-midi
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Peut-être
Excusez-moi
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Où est ?
J’aimerais aller..
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Je vous en prie
D’accord
Parlez-vous anglais ?
Très bien
Je suis désolé

What time does..
Bathroom
Bedroom
Living room
Hotel
Cinema, Theatre
Museum
Open
Closed
Women
Men
Exit
Emergency
Letter
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

A quelle heure..
Salle de bains
Chambre
Salon
Hôtel
Cinéma, Théatre
Musée
Ouvert
Fermé
Femmes
Hommes
Sortie
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Lettre
Lundi
Mardi
Mercredi
Jeudi
Vendredi
Samedi
Dimanche

911 = 112
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In France, food is a tradition that is dealt with very seriously. The traditional French food is closely related to the history of France and many gems of the regional gastronomy are in fact originating from popular traditions.

Blanquette de Veau

The term 'blanquette' comes from the French word for "white" (blanc), being a ragout (stew) with a white sauce. Other meats besides veal may be prepared 'en blanquette' (the traditional 'white meats' - pork, rabbit, chicken - as well as lamb) but blanquette de veau is the most famous example of this method.
INGREDIENTS

For 6 persons
1,5 kg (3 lbs) of veal meat in shoulder or neck, gristles or flank...
Sea salt and Pepper
2 carrots
2 onions
1 small leek
3 oz of butter for the roux
3 oz of flour for the roux
1 small pot of cream
4 eggs (yolks)
1 lb of fresh mushrooms
2 oz of butter for the large pan
PREPARATION

Clean the meat in cold water and cut in thumb size squares.
Put 1 oz of butter in a large and deep pan and whiten the meat with the onions sliced in it.
Turn the meat pieces from time to time. 5 minutes then add 1 gallon of water + the carrots and the leek cut into rings.
Let it boil 10 minutes and take off the foam if any.
Let it simmer 1H30 minimum without covering it.

The roux
Melt the butter in a medium size pan
Add the flour and keep whisking at low heat for 5 minutes
Let cool slightly and add bullion to taste.
Whip on fire until the sauce is getting thick ( like a custard)
Add the creme fraiche and heat the sauce.
Take the pan out of the fire and add the 4 yolks, whip again and add the sauce to the meat.
include the mushrooms cut in slices
Leave the large pan on very low heat 20 minutes.

The Rice
Cook 1 lb of Thai rice of Issan (or Isaan) without washing it first. 10 minutes.

Let the Blanquette sleep one night while you do the same and the next day, just jump on it.
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Opening times
The classic French shopping week comprises six days, Monday to Saturday, with shops generally open from 9 AM to Midday, and 2 PM to 7 PM In towns and villages, it is still the rule that shops close at lunchtime. Out of town supermarkets and superstores do not usually close for lunch. They generally open from 9 AM (or earlier) until 8 PM (or later); other large stores in out-of-town shopping centres often close a bit earlier in the evening, often at 7 PM. Most shops and supermarkets accept VISA, American Express and Cash.

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Alsace Ardeche Bordeaux and Dordogne Britany Burgundy Champagne Guedelon Castle
Loire Valley Lyon and Beaujolais Normandy Paris Provence Pyrenees Riviera Var
French Alps French Gastronomy
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