Alsace France - Travel Guide, Places to Visit, Gites and Alsace Hotels. You are here: Visit FranceRegions of FranceAlsace Alsace is a lovely and fascinating region of eastern France to explore, with impressive cities such as Strasbourg and Colmar, the Alsace wine route to follow, historical castles set on isolated hilltops, pretty villages sitting quietly in the vineyards and forests of the region, and large areas of protected and scenic countryside Alsace tourist sights and places to visit Alsace is found in eastern France, on the border with Germany to the east and the Lorraine region of France to the west.
It is the smallest region in France and very pretty in its location between the Vosges mountains and the Rhine. The Alsace region is divided into two French 'departments' with Bas-Rhin to the north and including Strasbourg and Haut-Rhin to the south and including Colmar. The climate in Alsace is almost 'continental' in nature with hot summers and dry, cold winters. Why visit Alsace? The 'principal attractions' that bring visitors to Alsace include:
French language. French (le français [lə fʁ̥ɒ̃sɛ] ( ) or la langue française [la lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛz]) is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick (Acadia region) in Canada also in Haiti, the Acadiana region of the U.S. state of Louisiana, the northern parts of the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the New England region, and by various communities elsewhere.
Other speakers of French, who often speak it as a second language,[3] are distributed throughout many parts of the world, the largest numbers of whom reside in Francophone Africa.[4] In Africa, French is most commonly spoken in Gabon (where 80% report fluency),[4] Mauritius (78%), Algeria (75%), Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire (70%). French is estimated as having 110 million[3] native speakers and 190 million more second language speakers.[5] Geographic distribution[edit] France. France (UK: /ˈfrɑːns/; US: i/ˈfræns/; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( )), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign country in Western Europe that includes overseas regions and territories.
[note 13] Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of only three countries (with Morocco and Spain) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Due to its shape, it is often referred to in French as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon"). France is the largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the third-largest in Europe as a whole. France has been a major power in Europe since the Late Middle Ages. Etymology History Prehistory One of the Lascaux paintings of which depicts a horse (Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC).
Paris. Paris (UK: /ˈpærɪs/; US: i/ˈpɛərɪs/; French: [paʁi]) is the capital and most populous city of France.
Situated on the Seine River, in the north of the country, it is in the centre of the Île-de-France region, also known as the région parisienne, "Paris region". The City of Paris has an area of 105.4 km2, and as of January 2013, a population of 2,273,305 people.[2] With an estimated 10,843,285 inhabitants as of 2015, Paris's urban area is the most populous in the European Union, and third most populous in Europe, behind Moscow and Istanbul.[6] The Paris Region has a GDP of €612 billion (US$760 billion) in 2012, ranking it as one of the wealthiest five regions in Europe; it is the banking and financial centre of France, and contains the headquarters of 30 companies in the Fortune Global 500.
In 2013 the City of Paris received 29.3 million visitors, making it one of the world's top tourist destinations. §History[edit] §Etymology[edit] §Origins[edit] §Middle Ages to Louis XIV[edit]