Paris's beauty is overwhelming, a fairy-tale town come to life.
Paris has been celebrated in such a torrent of media that for millions of people, the capital of France is an abstraction rather than a city. To most North American visitors, the city is still “Gay Paree,” the fairy-tale town inviting you for a fling, the hub of everything “European,” and the epitome of that nebulous attribute known as “chic.” Paris remains the metropolis of pleasure, the picture postcard of blooming chestnut trees and young couples kissing by the Seine.

Paris is the glamour capital of the globe; by day a stone mosaic of delicate gray and green, by night a stunning, unforgettable sea of lights—white, red, orange. Broad, tree-lined boulevards open up before you, the mansions flanking them looming tall, ornate, and graceful. Everywhere you look are trees, squares, and monuments—and train stations. For Paris is also the center of France’s extensive web of rail networks and a major international rail hub - a natural spot to begin multicountry rail travel of Europe.

Lyon offers many refined tastes, and much to see, too.
At the junction of the turbulent Rhône and the tranquil Saône, Lyon is the third-largest city in France. The city has a population of 400,000, with more than a million more people spread across the large urban area that surrounds it. Lyon is the center of an industrial region; textile manufacturing is especially important. It's a leader in publishing and banking, and it's one of the world's silk capitals. Some of the country's best restaurants, including Paul Bocuse, are in and around Lyon and are worth traveling for.

Lyon has urban sprawl, and some of France’s most humid summers in France. Still, it's much more relaxed and friendlier than Paris (which is 268 miles to the northeast). Parks in full bloom, skyscrapers and sidewalk cafes, an excellent transport system, and a nightlife scene fueled by student energy invigorate Lyon, along with talented chefs, both young and old.

Lyon is the best base for exploring the Rhône region. Aside from having France’s finest food, its historic core unequaled in the region.

The glitzy, gaudy center of glamour on the French Riviera.
Popular with celebrities and their hangers-on, Cannes is at its most frenzied in May during the International Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on the promenade de la Croisette. On the seafront boulevards flashbulbs pop as the starlets emerge, pose, and set new trends. International regattas, galas, concours d’élégance, even a Mimosa Festival in February—something is always happening at Cannes, except in November, which is traditionally a dead month.

Setting out for Nice in 1834, Lord Brougham, a lord chancellor of England, was turned away because of an outbreak of cholera. He landed at Cannes instead and liked it so much he decided to build a villa there. Returning every winter until his death in 1868, he proselytized for the French port city in London, drawing a long line of British travelers.

A port of call for cruise liners, the seafront of Cannes is lined with hotels, apartment houses, and chic boutiques. Many of the bigger hotels, some dating from the 19th century, claim part of the beaches for the private use of their guests, though there are public areas.

The Riviera’s capital combines concrete and sunshine to stunning effect.
The Victorian upper classes and tsarist aristocrats loved Nice in the 19th century, but it's solidly middle class today, and far less glamorous or expensive than Cannes -- the least expensive of any resort, in fact. It's also the best stepping off point for train excursions to other cities on both the French and Italian sides of the Riviera.

Nice is the capital of the Riviera, the largest city between Genoa and Marseille. It's also one of the most ancient, having been founded by the Greeks, who called it "Nike," or Victory. Because of its brilliant sunshine and relaxed living, it has attracted artists and writers. Among them were Dumas, Nietzsche, Apollinaire, Flaubert, Victor Hugo, George Sand, Stendhal, Chateaubriand, and Mistral. Henri Matisse, who made his home in Nice, said, "Though the light is intense, it's also soft and tender." The city has, on the average, 300 days of sunshine a year.

Center of wine production and a city undergoing large-scale transformation.
On the Garonne River, the port of Bordeaux anchors one of the world's most important wine-producing areas. It may not exude the joie de vivre of Paris, but Bordeaux, a city of some 650,000, is a major cultural center and a transportation hub between southern France and Spain. It’s is a city of warehouses, factories, mansions, suburbs, and wide quays five miles long.

Bordeaux belonged to the British for 300 years and even today is considered the most "un-French" of French cities. Bordeaux is classified as a "City of Art and History” and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. The city is a masterpiece of 18th century architectural urbanism making it a sought-after destination for tourists, cinema production crews, and design buffs. The riverfront is lined with monumental 18th-century buildings constructed during the port’s heyday, while the charming cobble-stoned area surrounding Place du Parlement is a maze of narrow streets and small squares around the Gothic church of St-Pierre.

Franco-German-influenced Strasbourg is distinguished by its intellectual and political history
Strasbourg, the capital of Alsace, is one of France's greatest cities; it was here that Rouget de Lisle first sang "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem. One of France's major ports, less than a mile west of the Rhine, Strasbourg is the site of the Council of Europe, as well as home to the European Parliament, which convenes at the Palais de l'Europe.

In 1871, Strasbourg was absorbed by Germany and made the capital of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. It reverted to France in 1918. One street is a perfect illustration of the city's identity crisis: More than a century ago it was avenue Napoléon. In 1871, it became Kaiser-Wilhelmstrasse, and then boulevard de la République in 1918. In 1940, it became Adolf-Hitler-Strasse, and today’s travelers will see signs that name it avenue du Général-de-Gaulle, the name it took on in 1945.

One of France’s most happening cities, Strasbourg is home to the University of Strasbourg, once attended by the likes of Goethe, Napoleon, and Pasteur. Today, some 40,000 students follow in these luminaries’ footsteps.

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