What is France like? (Outside of Paris)

[BunsSweet]

I've only ever visited Paris and I've enjoyed my trips there. But people always talk about "the South of France" and I wonder what's it actually like over there? How different is it? Is life there less fast paced?

What's it like near the France Italy border?

We drive to the Côte D’Azur and stay in a place near Grasse and Valbonne. The whole area is just gorgeous. We visit little villages in the mountains relatively early in the morning whilst it’s cool and less busy. The produce is so much better and tastier than our supermarkets.
This year we plan to go to Nice and Menton. We’ll probably visit the Italian part of the Riviera and go to Ventimiglia for the day too.

I agree - the area around Valbonne is gorgeous. We have a holiday home further along at Mandelieu-la-Napoule. We’re there now - one of my favourite places in the world.

DD used to live in Menton, which directly borders Italy. In the one hand it’s utterly charming, especially the old town, but it does have a strange vibe with underlying racism. Let’s say I would not want to go there if I were visibly of African heritage. A white person can cross the border from Italy easily on foot without question, a black person will be stopped and asked for ID. Same on the buses that leave Menton for the inland mountains but go via Italy. From what I’ve heard the inland mountain villages are much more open-minded about sheltering refugees who cross via the mountains. It’s a really difficult topic.
Menton has really upped its game as a tourist destination in the last decade - used to be quite sleepy and aimed at French/Italian families, now there are a lot more cafes and beach clubs for younger people.
The history is fascinating: It declared independence from France in the 19th century and had its own language Mentonasque, and still has its own cuisine which is heavy on chickpea flour, apparently influenced by the Middle East /Mediterranean history.
Monaco, however, is utterly bonkers. Can’t take the place seriously.

My family are French, from the Savoie region in the mountains which is beautiful. I have soent a fair amount of time on the Côte d'Azur as we had a holiday home there growing up, also lovely although can be extremely busy and expensive. I prefer the mountain regions with lakes to swim in.

@Parker231Oh I’m so envious that you have a place there! It’s such a gorgeous place. We stay in Roquefort les Pins. Last year we fell in love with Valbonne and Mougins.

Being near the french/Italy border is there anything interesting about the languages? Are there different french/Italian dialects spoken, anything interesting with loan words?

As pp said, France is so vast that you can have four seasons and multiple cultural/food experiences in the one day!

Each region has its own particular charm depending on what appeals to you. For me two areas stand out, the Basque country around Bayonne (handy day trip to San Sebastian/Donostia and Biarritz), and the Aude region. I'd happily live in either, although I always think that far away hills are green and there's a different vibe when you actually live there. Normandy and Brittany are fab also, but the weather can be disappointing.

I spent a lot of time in Nice in the past. Once you get to know the back streets and the local restaurants it's very ordinary and great fun. The Promenade/Old Town areas are chock a block with visitors but that's Cote d'Azur for you.

I haven't yet been to Marseilles and Provence, but hopefully soon. I hear it is gorgeous around the Vaucluse/Avignon/Aix/Arles/Nimes so plenty to discover...

The Aude region I'm talking about is the countryside around Carcassonne. That city is charming but a bit of a pastiche, and one day would do it. However, a canal trip on the Canal du Midi is great fun, and you can go all the way to Narbonne.

Anyway I'm getting itchy feet now to get back. Hope you enjoy your trip OP, you won't be disappointed if you research well what you like and don't like.

I made this thread because I've only ever seen Paris. So many people talk about "a trip to the South of France" and it made me wonder what it's like given that France is so vast.

When I visited Paris I wasn't scared of being violently robbed but I was wary of pickpockets.

I'm also considering Italy

My In-laws live in Les Mages. It's very quaint. Everything seems to run at a slower pace. Town offices only open for 3-4 hours daily, alternating mornings and afternoons. Everything stops at lunch time.

The ‘south of France’ is a big area and can mean lots of different things. For us, we drive south from Lyon (where we live) then either turn left to ‘rich’ south of France, or right to the poorer side. Left is cote d’Azur, Cannes, Nice, St Tropez etc - all wealthy and glitz. Right is Carcassonne, Narbonnes, Béziers, Cap d’Agde - more family oriented, not glitzy, definitely poorer. Bezier’s a real FN stronghold. Then you go far enough west and it starts getting wealthy again in foie gras country.

my parents had a holiday home in the Languedoc and we spent nearly 15 summers there, 2 months at a time. Life goes slowly, in summer everything is shut and having a siesta most of the afternoon. Cicadas in the trees, swimming pool lapping gently, heat thrumming in the cypresses.

When we want to visit tourist places, my favourite is Saint Paul de Vence. I love the little passageways and amazing views.

Where we are it doesn’t get particularly busy as most people go to nearby Cannes.

Fabulous and mountainous. Usually fabulous weather in summer but great skiing in winter. Mountain food tends to be heavy on the cheese.

My parents used to live in the Vendee region. Lovely scenery and villages, plenty to do if you like being outdoors. Food is expensive in the supermarkets but there’s some excellent produce. I don’t like Paris at all but really liked the countryside further south.

@Parker231We did go there too last summer and loved it. We go again in 6 wks so I’m putting together a list of new places to visit. Villefranche-sur-Mer is a must.

Bookmarking so I can remember all these lovely recommendations.
Thank you all.
Ile de Re, Ars de Re, Vannes, Mont St Michel and St Malo are among some of beautiful places to stay in Brittany.

Thank you for showing me!

We went there in 2023 and it was beautiful.

Each area is different and where France abuts another country it takes on some characteristics of the other country. So you have Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain all contributing. Then the mountains of the Jura, Alps and Pyrenees and the foods can be particular to these regions. South of France can mean the Cote d'Azur but could mean Provence and the Luberon areas (A Good Year was filmed there I think). Atlantic coast just stunning. I love how these areas change. Corsica is French but it's an island near Italy.

It changes as to where you are. Top of Italy you are in the Aosta region that crosses into France. So up to Courmayeur (Italy) and Mont Blanc tunnel to Chamonix. Few miles down the road and you can go out of Italy to Bourges St. Maurice. From Nice a fantastic train journey to Monaco and on to San Remo and the Italian Riviera or switch trains and into the Maritime Alps thro Sospel and on to Cuneo (Italy). Small train going deep into the mountains.

Sometimes I forget how much there is to explore in the EU.

What a great thread. I’m sure there are others like me reading who have only been there briefly (and mainly Paris) who are inspired.

We like the East of the Dordogne, the Lot area. Less Brits lol.
One year we sat talking to a French couple who were intrigued why we were holidaying in a really non touristy area and we simply said but we just love France. Great night...blooming boiling hot so lots of vino was drunk. Really basic municipal campsite next to a river so we could cool off.
We often end up on sites as the only Brits and are met with nothing but kindness from other campers.

Not sure how helpful this'll be as it's several years (well, decades tbh) out of date! But I lived in the south of France as a child, firstly in Provence, then La Rochelle, then somewhere in the French Pyranees (I forget the name). Had an amazing time in all! Can particularly recommend La Rochelle - it's beautiful.

We actually never went to Paris when we were living there, I went for the first time with DH a couple of years ago and was sorely disappointed. So overpriced and the people so unfriendly. Very different to my experience in the south!

If you’re looking for other recommendations - try Île de Porquerolles. It’s south of Hyeres - a little island with the most beautiful beach.