TROIS, DEUX, UN…
Having six sides, and an increasingly diverse demographic, bestows France – l’Hexagone – with a rich, multidimensional personality. She may be full of temples to cultural heritage and steeped in deeply rooted traditions, but she’s packed with natural splendour and has adventures waiting to unfold.
Apart from the ski resorts and coastal playgrounds, there are mountain trails and majestic waterways. Plus prime sporting events lined up for the immediate future… the Tour de France, French Grand Prix, the French Open and the Mountain Bike World Champs are all on track for this (European) summer.
Time to start planning. And packing.
CITY OF LOVE, LIGHT… AND CHANGE?
We’ve heard her called the Elvis Presley of cities, and of course she goes by many names. La Ville Lumière, incidentally, gets her nickname not because of the much hyped romance of the place or because her stars twinkle brighter. Paris was among the first places in the world to get electricity and, consequently, electric lights. How’s that for an unromantic origin story?
Trouble is, you struggle to uncouple the romance from the city. Whether it’s the chiselled jawlines and structured cheekbones of its inhabitants or the glamour one associates with beautiful people who can pull off being in-your-face rude, it’s hard to ignore the allure. Pre-pandemic, it was said that about 30 million people visited Paris each year (and about 90 million
