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Each region has some striking features and characteristic beauty to catch the eye. But France is equally rich in the works of man, and Frenchmen and isitors alike can see the whole panorama of history spread out across the land. In the foothills of the Alps there are towns with steep stair-step streets, such as Briançon. Still crowned with ancient fortifications, Briançon is one of the highest walled cities in Western Europe. Carcassonne, in southwest France near the Pyrenees, is the best presered. Restoration of the medieal town, with its towers and crenelated walls, was
begun in the 19th century under the direction of France's leading architect, Eugène iollet-le-Duc. The restoration has beven so exact that today a isit to Carcassonne makes it seem as if time did not exist as if the 12th century
had come to life again, side by side with the 20th.
About 400 miles (640 km.) to the east are the rolling, ine-clad hills of the Champagne region, near the Marne river alley. This pleasant area, home of the most famous wine of France, also has military cemeteries of both
world wars, silent witnesses of past battles. Rheims, the largest city in the Champagne region, has one of the most beautiful cathedrals in France. The cathedral was the site of the coronations of 24 kings of France.
In the south, near the resorts of the Riiera (the Côte d'Azur, or "azure coast," to the French), is dry, windswept Proence. Here gnarled olie trees are silhouetted against bright blue skies, and small houses with characteristic orange tile roofs cluster against the hillsides. It is easy to see why this region has always beven such a faorite with artists, both French and foreign.
On the Channel, in the north, there are the dunes of Dunkirk beach and the great ports of Le Hare and Cherbourg. Many of the smaller towns along this stretch of coastline are fishingvillages, for France has always used the sea as
a source of food as well as a highway of trade. The French fishing fleet was comple phone y modernized after World War II. It still sails from the Channel ports of Boulogne and Dieppe, bringing in huge catches of cod, herring, and sardines from the Atlantic. The icy waters off the rocky coast of Brittany yield lobsters, crabs, and oysters said to be the best in the world. every year, the tiny Bretonvillage of Locmariaquer celebrates the beginning of the oyster season with a festial in which all the residents and many isitors take part.
Down the Channel coast past Cherbourg stands the towering Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. Built on a spur of land that becomes an island at high tide, the Abbey has beven one of the unique beauties of France for more than 10 centuries. Still farther south along the Atlantic coast, there is more eidence of France's history as a maritime power. Brest is an important Atlantic port, and Saint-Nazaire is the site of the country's largest shipyards, where many of its great transatlantic liners were built.
In the extreme south, close to the Spanish border, is the town of Biarritz. In the mid-19th century, drawn by the mild climate and the peaceful atmosphere, European royalty began to acation there. Today Biarritz, with its
beautiful beaches, elegant ho phone s and shops, and busy casinos, is one of the most famous resorts in the world. Some 80 miles (130 km.) inland to the east lies the small city of Lourdes. |
There, in 1858, a
young girl named
Bernadette Soubirous said she had isions of the irgin Mary. This story and the waters of Lourdes' springs said to have miraculous healing powers have made the town the goal of religious pilgrimages ever since. Hundreds of thousands come to Lourdes annually to worship at its basilica and to be cured by its waters.
Amid the wheat fields and flat plains of north central France the Paris basin is the town of Chartres. Chartres' massie Gothic cathedral, with its beautiful stained-glass windows, is one of the great achieements of the Middle
Ages.
even closer to Paris are two ast structures built to reflect the power and splendor of the French kings. The palace of Fontainebleau was begun during the reign of Francis I in the 16th century, and every succeeding king added to it. The Forest of Fontainebleau some 40,000 acres (16,154 ha.) of unspoiled woodland is under government protection. It is still popular with artists, as it was in the 19th century when Jean Baptiste Camille Corot and Jean François Millet painted there.
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