What Is France Known For ? Fun Interesting Facts & Famous Places

What Is France Best Known For ? Fun Interesting Facts , Important Information & Famous Places

France is one of the earth’s most visited places. It’s a country that keeps receiving some of the largest tourism crowds year after year, receiving more than 80 million vacationists each year. And why is that? IT’s mainly due to its charming metropolis Paris that has unmatched appeal, Eiffel Tower, one of the most famous landmarks on the planet.

There are other regions as well that worth visiting, such as the route of the castles of the Loire or the French Riviera. All of that is already known, but what I’m going to tell you now will probably take you by surprise. We will explore numerous attractions to allow you to grasp the French charm a little better. France is undoubtedly a country that is well worth a visit. Shall we start?

What Is France Known For – Fun Interesting Facts Weird Important Information & Famous Places

France has a lot of tourist places. For a long time, it has grown to be one of the most important and extensively visited cities in Europe.

Much of the fascination associated with the country is usually located in Paris, but there are also other cities, towns, and regions where you can contemplate beautiful buildings and exceptional monuments.

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Facts About France For Kids

• The Millau Viaduct

France can brag about having the greatest road bridge on the planet. It is the Millau Viaduct, which was designed by the great Norman Foster, one of the most influential architects in history. It has a striking height of 343 meters.

• Doctor Without Borders

Does it sound familiar? It is a non-governmental organization that was first endowed by volunteered French doctors in 1971 and that in 1999 received the Nobel Peace Prize.

• Roundabouts, Traffic Circles, Or More Rotaries, Whatever You Call Them Are Numerous

In France, if you go by car, you will get exhausted from driving through roundabouts, since there are about 30,000. They are so common that it is said that more than half of those in the whole world is found in France alone.

• Car License Plates

We could say that it is a French invention considering that the first ones that were used all over the world were first seen in France.

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Facts On France For School

• The population of France is 66.4 million (2015).
• The population of Paris is 2.2 million, the largest urban part of Paris has 12.4 million people.
• The French population is 13% of the total European Union (2015)
• France has the highest birth rate in Europe (2014) with 1.88 live births for an average of 30-year-old women to be the highest fertility rate in entire Europe.
• France had 83.7 million guests in 2014 as stated by the World Tourism Organization, making it the most visited land in the world.

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France Interesting Places

Because there are more impressive places in France than Paris or its Eiffel Tower. France is such an incredible country, with impressive corners to discover. We would be lying if we said that we are not in love with France, So we’ll leave you a selection of most of France Interesting Places To See.

• Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most prominent and symbolic monuments in all of France. It was inaugurated on the occasion of the celebration of the French Revolution and has a height of 324 meters.

• Louvre Museum

This is one of the most influential museums in France. It is deemed to be one of the greatest museums in the world. It is located inside the Louvre Palace exhibiting large artifacts and painting collections from various civilizations and cultures, as well as priceless pieces of history.

• The Arc de Triomphe

This is a vital monument that was ordered to be built by Napoleon to honor his triumph in the Battle of Austerlitz, it is placed in front of the Champs Elysees.

• Notre-Dame Cathedral

This is one of the earliest and most artistic Gothic-style churches in France, its western façade stands out, which has several majestic architectural features.

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• Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is an outstanding building that at the time was used as a royal palace. The outside has impressive architectural details while inside you can see the most fascinating old-fashioned noble lifestyles.

• The Champs Elysees

This is the biggest and most energetic avenue in Paris, it goes back to the year 1616 and it is centered across Paris’s main attractions and tourist areas.

• Carcassone

In the Languedoc-Roussillon province in France, we find this medieval setting that will delight anyone who likes to travel and learn about chronicles.

We recommend that you spend a night in the area since there is nothing like being able to walk in the moonlight through one of the most beautiful enclaves in the continent, so to feel like living in a fairytale.

• Rocamadour

Near Bordeaux, in Midi-Pyrénées, we find Rocamadour, a religious enclave in which apart from enjoying a unique architecture, where the houses seem to be climbing the cliffs, we can also enjoy a fascinating walk through its medieval alleys.

• Alsace (especially Colmar at Christmas)

Located in the eastern part of France, this region that borders Germany and Switzerland is today one of the most appealing regions of the country. Primarily when the Christmas season approaches and the streets of many of its towns are decked out in their best costumes to bring us, a little closer, to one of the most glorious times of the year.

Not in vain they say that this was where the tradition of the Christmas tree was born.

• Castles Cathar Rout

One of the most beautiful roads in France that you can pass by the medieval city of Carcassone since they are within walking distance of each other. We suggest that you explore the route away from the area’s hottest months and its the busy season, at which time tourist groups can overpower the set of one of the most impressive castles we have ever seen.

• Costa Azul

Who has not heard of Monaco, Nice, Cannes, or St. Tropez? One of the most popular beaches not only in France but in the world, where many of the celebrities gather every year.

If you come before or after the busy summer season we assure you that you will discover an area that will not fail you and much cheaper than you can ever think.

• Lavender fields in Provence

What can we say about the image we all have in mind when talking about French Provence. Lavender fields, so bright lilac that they seem to be taken from a painter’s portrait. Without a doubt one of the icons of France that we can never disregard.

• Chenonceau Castle. Route of the Loire castles

Another of the best-known tracks in France is the Route of the Loire castles in the important area of the Loire Valley, highlighting the Castle of Chenonceau, one of the most gorgeous that we can find in the region.

•  Cliffs of Étretat

If there is a landscape in France that can take your breath away, it is, without a doubt, the Cliffs of Étretat in Normandy. With a verticality that amazes anyone with a white sand beach supplemented by a sea of ​​intense blue, as they were painted by great artists like Monet.

Interesting Fun Facts About France For Kids

• Sleepy Sleeperson

Although naps are not popular in Europe, the French usually sleep an average of 9 hours a day, which is why it is estimated that it is the highest average of all developed countries.

• The highest point

The Eiffel Tower is the highest point in France. It is in Paris and is 324 meters tall if we take into account the antenna at the top.

• Food is never thrown away

In France, they made an important and wise decision in 2016. No supermarket and no store can throw away food since then. What do they do with it? They rather donate it to charities and food banks.

• Potatoes

Potatoes became illegal between 1748 and 1772 since it was believed to hold the bacteria causing leprosy.

• The French reigned in England

It seems ridiculous, but in England French was spoken for almost 300 years. It became the official language when William the Conqueror was victorious at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

• Cheese specialists

Nobody can say that in France you could lack types of cheeses choose from. There are more than 400 different varieties! No wonder the movie Ratatouille is set in Paris.

• The flag has not always been tricolor

White, blue, and red have not always been the colors of the flag of France. Before the French Revolution, it was white, and during the Reformation, a single color was used again, but when the monarchy fell in 1830, the flag that continues to swing till today was then used.

French Culture Facts

When we prepare for a trip we have so many things to think about (tickets, which hotel we are going to stay in, what are we going to carry in our suitcase, what places are we going to visit, where are we going to eat …), that sometimes we forget some issues that are equally or even more important.

For example, it is essential that before embarking on a trip you know the main customs and cultural rituals of the destination, especially if you do not want to experience moments of awkwardness. Also, you already know that one of the best things about traveling is that it teaches us that in the world there are a lot of cultures and some unconventional ways of doing stuff. The goal is not to approach any destination with curiosity but also with respect.

Although France is a European country and is very close to us, it has its own customs, which you should know whether you are going to visit this place or if you plan to go live there for a while, either for love, studies or work. Today at SeaFranceHolidays we want to tell you about some of the main French Culture Facts And Customs. Would you like to join us?

• The greeting

France has many inheritances, some of which are very old. One of the things you should know if you plan to travel to this country is the way they say hello. Thus, you should know that it is common to greet each other with a firm handshake.

Between friends and family, they kiss each other on the cheek, only if it is greetings between ladies or between men and women. In addition, you should know that in informal situations, it is also common to greet each other with three kisses.

In any case, you must accompany the greeting with the name of the person or use “Madame” (Madam), “Mademoiselle” (Miss) or “Monsieur” (Sir), or the professional title if it is someone strange.

• Language

It is also important that you bear in mind that some French do not answer if they are not spoken in French. Of course, if they see that the people who speak to them at least try, they can become more friendly since they value that visitors attempt to speak their cherished language.

• Tips & Gratuity

Before traveling to any destination, it is important that you inform yourself about how the subject of tipping works. What you have to know about France is that you not only leave tips in bars, cafes, and restaurants but also hotel receptionists, taxi drivers, cinema ushers … Of course, usually the gratuity is included in the bill (represents between 10% and 15% of what is consumed).

• Meal hours

If you are going to travel to France, you better find out what the meal times are. Thus, you should know that the French usually eat breakfast at around 7 in the morning, have lunch at noon and have dinner around 7 or 8 in the afternoon.

In addition, it is important that you keep in mind that they do not usually eat between meals and that they do not snack before lunch or dinner so as not to spoil the enjoyment of the main dishes.

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• Leisure time

What do the French do during their free time? Well, one of the favorite activities is visiting cafes, especially on weekends. In addition, you should know that the citizens of this country have a very active social and nightlife, even going out several times a week, either to the theater, to see musical shows, to the cinema, to dinner, etc.

• Beware of being late

Many people tend to be quite unpunctual, but in France being late for a social gathering or party is considered very rude. In fact, they do not accept delays of more than 20 minutes. And if you are going to visit a house, do not forget to bring some Cadeau: flowers, cakes, a toy for the child of the house …

France History Facts – History Of France For Kids

• Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to the future English king Henry II in May 1152 led to British rule by France for about three centuries.
• French was the official language in England from 1066 to 1362.
• Much of southwestern France wasn’t even part of France till as late as 1453, the end of the Hundred Years War when England surrendered all of its French territories except Calais.

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Interesting Facts About France For Kids

French inventions

• The French were the first to officially adopt the metric system in 1793 after the French Revolution to substitute the old system that had almost 400 different ways of measuring land areas in France. The idea of a metric system is based on measuring decimal, using multiples of 10, however, had been around since the 17 ^th century.
• The international emergency Mayday signal used by ships and aircraft version comes from the french word of M’aidez, meaning ‘Help Me’.
• In fact, all-American fabric denim came from Nimes, which was a textile-producing city. Nîmes’ fabric was exported to the US southern state in the 19 ^th century to make durable and cheap clothes for the slaves.

• The French claim that Stilts was first used by shepherds in the swampy Landes so that they could move around the wetlands, and also see sheep from afar.
• The French army officially used an observation tree by setting a coverup corps led by Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola in 1915. They hired an artist to create covers for weapons and more. ‘ Camoufle r’ is a Parisian slang that means to disguise.
• The French developed canning when pastry chef Nicolas Appert started utilizing sealed glass jars after sterilizing them in boiling water to store food in 1809. Later, another Frenchman, Pierre Durand, started using tin cans.
• The braille writing system for blind people was developed by Louis Braille in 1824
• Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier pioneered hot air balloon flights in 1783.
• The bra was invented by Herminie Cadolle in 1889. She opened a lingerie plant and presented it at the Great Exhibition of 1900 with great success.
• In 1984, the French started the Minitel online service used by people to pay their bills and to shop from their own homes.
• In February 2016, France outlawed supermarkets that throw away or damage any unsold food. Now stores are obliged to donate their unneeded food oversupply to food banks or charities.

Weird Facts About France

• The French have around 400 different types of cheeses. These are classified into several categories and there can be many species within each group, which is why many say there are even more than 1,000 types of French cheeses.

In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle despaired: “How can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheese?”

• The French eat an average of 500 snails each year (presumably)
• The French consume 11.2 billion glasses of wine a year.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 21% of the French understand what depression is, which means that it is the country that suffers the most.

Interesting Things About France

• The municipality with the shortest name

In the Somme district, there is a municipality called Y which claims to be the shortest on the planet.

• They keep the homing pigeons

The French still can’t forget the homing pigeons, they may be keeping them in case communications fail one day 😀

• A motto that will sound familiar to you

The motto of France, Liberté, égalité, fraternité, was first heard during the French Revolution (1789-1799) and is can be seen today on coins and stamps.

France Geography Facts

• France touches three major bodies of water: the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), the Mediterranean Sea, and the English Channel.
• France has almost 3,000 miles (4,668 kilometers) of coastline.
• There are seven main mountain ranges in France: Pyrenees, Alps, Auvergne, Vosges, Jura, Morvan and Corsica.
• Mont Blanc, in the French Alps, is the highest point in Western Europe at (4,810 m)
• European France borders eight countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland, in addition to Monaco and Andorra.

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• France is subdivided into 18 provinces (as reorganized in 2016) and its overseas territories comprise another four regions.
• France consists of 633,187 square kilometers (244,474 square miles)
• France is the largest country in the EU, known as the ‘hexagon’ due to its shape
• The Millau Bridge in southern France is the tallest bridge in the world and the tallest structure in France. At its highest point, it stands 343 m (1,125 ft) above the ground, higher than the Eiffel Tower. It is 2,460 meters long.
• Paris Gare du Nord is the liveliest railroad station in Europe and the world, with about 190 million passengers a year. It is also one of the first built in the world: it was opened in 1846, although it was replaced by a new railway station in 1860.

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Fun Facts About French Language – Interesting French Language Facts & Information

Many people choose to learn this language because they think it is very similar to English, although this is not entirely true. However, French is a language loaded with rules and unique details. We will tell you about them below.

Around 235 million people speak French worldwide (8 million native French speakers), which places this language in the fifth position of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world, and in the ninth position by native speakers, according to Ethnologue.

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In addition, the French language enthusiasts argue that it is a ‘belle langue‘ (beautiful language) because it is a language that transmits a wealth and indisputable cultural characteristics to those who learn it.

But even if it is the language of our fellow country, it must be clarified that, far from resembling English, French is a language full of oddities and unusual data that you will surely want to know.

1. Phonetic difficulties

In general, one of the great problems that a foreign person may encounter when learning French is the number of phonetic difficulties that this language entails. In fact, for an English speaker, one of the great pitfalls of French is usually the pronunciation of many of its words.

2. French Homophones – French Words that resemble each other

When someone begins to learn French, one of the things that most attracts their attention about this language is that there are many words in which changing just a couple of letters in order, they give a very different meaning.

This is the case, for example, the word fourchette (fork) and courgette (zucchini), or do the word épices (spices) and espèces (cash).

@jonathan.blu

French words sound the same #xyzbca #fy #languages #different #french #english #fyp #foryou #sound

♬ original sound – Jonathan

3. The disappearance of the S

Due to its Latin origin, Old French had words with S in which this letter was pronounced by the speakers. However, as time goes on, the letter S disappeared. For this reason, many words that previously contained the S now do not contain it, as is the case, for example, of the word hospital, which is now written hôpital ‘.

4. Masculine and Feminine

One of the great curiousness that relates to the French language is the grammatical gender of some words. And is that some terms such as amour (love), délice (delight), or orgue (organ) have the particularity of being masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural. What a mess!

5. Lends many words to English

We all know that English borrows many words from other languages, well, it is estimated that approximately 1/3 of the English vocabulary comes from French.

Some language experts claim that around 45% of English words come from French. Here are some examples: Similar, café, cabinet, garage, and infertile, among many others.

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6. The greeting in French

Those who learn this language say that greeting in French is an art, and that is that while Bonsoir is good afternoon and bonne Nui t is good night, another word like bonjour means good morning and they are all may also be used as hello.

But there is also the word Salut, which means hi but only between young people and friends, since it is not a formal greeting to use, with your boss, teacher or so.

7. Speed ​​of speaking

Although the English language is the fifth-fastest in the world when it comes to speaking, French comes ahead in third place in the fastest spoken language list.

So if you are learning French and you go to France, most probably, you are not going to understand a word they saying to you at first if they speak normally. They must speak to you at a little slower pace so you can get the words.

Are There Wolves In France

A French wolf plan was adopted in 2018 in France, which was highly criticized by both farmers and environmental defenders, ensured that the number of 500 individuals would be reached in 2023. However, according to the winter report of the Office National Game and Wildlife (ONCFS), “the count is estimated at about 530 against 430 the previous year. From field measurements, necessarily partial, and from a mathematical model, the estimate is in fact a range from 479 to 578, leading to this average estimate of 530.

Are There Wolves In France ? They are mainly concentrated in the Alps area, but this protected species has also colonized new territories, so wolves were detected in 2018 in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques, in the Aube-Yonne area, and in new areas of the Massif Central.

These carnivores, which were gone in the 1930s and returned naturally to Italy in the 1990s, are concentrated in the Alps, the southeast, and the east. The increasing presence of the predator is resisted by farmers who denounce attacks against their herds. In 2018, they suffered 3,674 attacks against more than 12,500 animals, mainly sheep.

A map published by the ONCFS shows that these attacks are mainly concentrated in the Alps (Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes de Haute Provence, Savoie), and in some cases on the border between the Vosges and Meurthe-et-Moselle and in the south of Aveyron.