From the rolling wine country of Provence to the pristine beach paradises of the Côte d’Azur, France is sure to have you soaking in the joie de vivre. Sipping coffee at a Parisian café or taking in the masterpieces at the Louvre are European experiences that can’t be missed. Home to a sophisticated savoir-faire, exquisite cuisine and a wide variety of cheeses (stinky and otherwise), a vacation to France is an adventure for all the senses.

France Fast Facts

• Capital: Paris
• Population: 61 million
• Language: French
• Currency: Euro (€)
• Time Zone: EST plus 6 hours
• Electricity: 220V, 50Hz

Do you have an upcoming vacation to France planned?  During your travels you are sure to enjoy dining out at many local restaurants and cafes.  Consider this tipping tip when traveling in France:

The bill in a bar or French restaurant includes service, but it’s customary to leave some small change unless you’re dissatisfied. The amount varies from €1.50 to €4.50 for a meal. Cloakroom attendants will expect nothing if there is a sign saying pourboire interdit (tipping forbidden); otherwise give them €.75. Washroom attendants usually get about €.30; bellhops around €1.50 per item.

Few towns celebrate a single artist as thoroughly as Arles does Vincent van Gogh.  Copies of his paintings are set up at the very sites where van Gogh painted them, so we can admire the same picturesque street views that once inspired the Dutch-born visionary.  Cultural centers are named after van Gogh, a replica of his home the “Yellow House” has been recreated (the original in Place Lamartine was bombed in WW2) and the Café La Nuit on the Place du Forum has recreated the lemon-accented color scheme he used to evoke gaslight in Café Terrace at Night.

All this devotion belies the embarrassing fact that, although van Gogh painted around 200 canvases in Arles, not one of them is owned by the town.  Worse, van Gogh’s actual experience in Arles was famously miserable.  In 1888, at the age of 35, the troubled artist was lured here by the brilliant colors of Provence.  But money was a constant problem: He only sold a single painting in his life, and in Arles, his work was held in such low esteem that, when Vincent gave a local doctor a portrait in thanks for his services, the doctor used it to cover a hole in his chicken coop.  Van Gogh was also desperately lonely: He hoped the town would become an artist’s colony, but only Paul Gaugin came to stay with him.

The pair argued constantly and Gaugin fled when Vincent, racked by mental illness, famously lopped off of his earlobe with a razor and gave it wrapped in newspaper to a local prostitute for safe keeping.  The citizens of Arles had no patience for van Gogh’s drunken, crazed antics: they called him the “fou roux,” or red-headed madman, and insisted that the authorities lock up van Gogh in a mental asylum outside of town.  Prolific though he was, the painter’s mental and financial problems never eased.  Upon his release, Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris and soon shot himself, never imagining how beloved his work would become.  His suicide note read: “The sadness will last forever.”

Thanks to the British author Peter Mayle, whose wildly popular memoirs about the expatriate life in Provence were turned into a 2006 film, A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe, this sun-dappled pocket of southern France has become the ultimate choice for Europeans to retire and renovate old farmhouses.  Few realize they are echoing a habit laid down 2000 years ago.

The ancient Romans conquered the whole of Europe, but they too had a soft spot for Provence, which was their first acquisition outside of Italy.  (The very name Provence comes from the Latin provincia).  No sooner had it been taken in 121 BC than its delightful ports and pretty rural villages began to attract wealthy Roman citizens looking for fresh air and sunshine.

Today, the landscape of Provence is rich with relics from that ancient golden age, especially in the city of Arles.  Around 50 BC, the town had the good judgment to support Julius Caesar in Rome’s civil wars, and was showered with rewards when he won.  As a result, Arles was transformed into the hub of the Western Empire, and a miniature version of Rome itself.  Modern visitors can still stroll from the Arena (a scaled-down Colosseum, where today bullfights have taken the place of gladiators) to the Place du Forum (the site of ancient market and meeting-place), inspect the Crypto-porticus (the granaries) and the Baths of Constantine (where citizens would while away whole days swimming, exercising and flirting).

To put all this in context, visit the new Museum of Ancient Arles.  Built next to the Roman Circus, where chariot races were once held, on the edge of the city, the museum contains a wonderful set of scale models and dioramas recreating Arles in its Roman heyday.

Afterwards, the ancient ruins of the town seem to come alive: You can virtually hear the Arena packed with 20,000 citizens howling for blood, the Forum filled with food vendors, and the riverfront promenade lined with wealthy tourists from Italy, lounging on marble benches and enjoying the sun – not so different from today, after all.

Welcome to Arles, France! Be prepared to be inundated with French cuisine and wine, rich history, and an impressive artisan culture.

We have an educational program for you for the next several weeks, which will introduce you to the sights and customs of Southern France. Ever wondered what to tip, or even if to tip, when dining out at French cafes? We will make sure tipping etiquette is crystal clear, in addition to discussing the basics of French travel. More importantly, we’ll tour the Roman Amphitheatre and visit the home of Vincent van Gogh. Though the famed artist only spent a year in Arles, he produced more than 300 paintings during his time there. We will also absorb the incredible culture of the region through the many pristine museums in Arles.

Pack your bags, it’s time to lose ourselves in the romance and delight of a vacation in France! We’ll languish with French cuisine, drink lavish French wines, and experience the country’s incredible culture.

Whether it’s the food, atmosphere, or history you crave, Arles has it all. Come, learn more with us as we discover this enchanting city!

A favorite post from our 2009 Paris, France vacation series.

There may be only a few foundation stones left today, but the Place de la Bastille is still one of the most evocative sites in Paris, luring millions of visitors who want to see the fabled spot for themselves. Every year on Bastille Day (July 14), the French celebrate the attack on the medieval fortress in the Marais district as the start of the Revolution in 1789, which despite its violent excess is still remembered as a moment of glory.

At the time, the Bastille was the most notorious of royal prisons, where the king could send subjects for years without appeal. It had gained a grim reputation in the Middle Ages as a place of torture and misery, but by the 1700s a sentence there was barely an unpleasant experience – at least if you had some cash in the family. Aristocrats were allowed to bring a small personal serving staff and decorate their prison cells as they wished, with their own feather beds, wall paintings and personal libraries. They could even order delicacies from the best Parisian kitchens. The food delivery records of the Marquis de Sade, who was here for five years, reveal his specific taste for fresh roast chicken, local pate, oysters, seasonal vegetables, fine wine and cognac.

Despite this luxury, in the popular mind the Bastille remained a symbol of the injustices of the Old Regime. When the Parisian mob chose to attack the hated fortress in 1789, there was nothing heroic in the act. The governor of the prison was guaranteed safe passage along with his men, but they were instantly set upon by the crowd and massacred – a drunken chef cut off the governor’s head with his pen-knife and it was paraded around Paris on a pike.

The rioters were then surprised to find only seven inmates in the entire prison, none of whom were very worthy of liberation: two lunatics, four forgers and a young gent charged with incest. Still, it remained a symbolic moment of victory. During the Revolution, tour guides led visitors around the Bastille, showing off fake manacles with exaggerated tales of the prison’s horrors, until it was finally dismantled.

There may be only a few foundation stones left today, but the Place de la Bastille is still one of the most evocative sites in Paris, luring millions of visitors who want to see the fabled spot for themselves. Every year on Bastille Day (July 14), the French celebrate the attack on the medieval fortress in the Marais district as the start of the Revolution in 1789, which despite its violent excess is still remembered as a moment of glory.

At the time, the Bastille was the most notorious of royal prisons, where the king could send subjects for years without appeal. It had gained a grim reputation in the Middle Ages as a place of torture and misery, but by the 1700s a sentence there was barely an unpleasant experience – at least if you had some cash in the family. Aristocrats were allowed to bring a small personal serving staff and decorate their prison cells as they wished, with their own feather beds, wall paintings and personal libraries. They could even order delicacies from the best Parisian kitchens. The food delivery records of the Marquis de Sade, who was here for five years, reveal his specific taste for fresh roast chicken, local pate, oysters, seasonal vegetables, fine wine and cognac.

Despite this luxury, in the popular mind the Bastille remained a symbol of the injustices of the Old Regime. When the Parisian mob chose to attack the hated fortress in 1789, there was nothing heroic in the act. The governor of the prison was guaranteed safe passage along with his men, but they were instantly set upon by the crowd and massacred – a drunken chef cut off the governor’s head with his pen-knife and it was paraded around Paris on a pike.

The rioters were then surprised to find only seven inmates in the entire prison, none of whom were very worthy of liberation: two lunatics, four forgers and a young gent charged with incest. Still, it remained a symbolic moment of victory. During the Revolution, tour guides led visitors around the Bastille, showing off fake manacles with exaggerated tales of the prison’s horrors, until it was finally dismantled.

Celebrate the “joie de vivre,” joy of life, when you vacation in Paris. Tour the Arc de Triomphe and take in the magnificent views of Paris.

There’s more than one way to conquer the world.  The flabby, charismatic “Sun King,” Louis XIV, knew that he could impress the French people with his insanely lavish royal lifestyle, but he also wanted to make his mark on Europe.  Throughout his 55 year rule in the 17th Century, he campaigned vigorously to establish Paris as the continent’s capital of style, promoting its gourmet food and wine, haute couture, cutting-edge  perfumes, opulent furnishings and exquisite jewelry.  Every new innovation required Louis’ personal imprimatur, making him the world’s first fashion dictator.  Author Joan DeJean claimed in “The Essence of Style” that Louis’ devotion to elegance has shaped the culture of indulgence today – “Without the Sun King’s program for defining France as the land of luxury in glamour, there would never have been a Stork Club, a Bergdorf Goodman, a Chez Panisse or a Christophe of Beverly Hills.”  The 700-room Palace of Versailles, which Louis built 10 miles from Paris, became the command center for this unique fashion experiment – a prototype for the Playboy Mansion, where courtiers could exist in a netherworld of art and pleasure (all at considerable expense, of course).  While France slowly descended into bankruptcy, Louis played hide and seek with mistresses, frolicked in tree houses and held resplendent soirees in the Hall of Mirrors, lit with thousands of candles.  And his every taste became law – it was Louis’ passion for diamonds, for example, that first privileged them above all other gems.  The flip side of all this was that Louis became corrupted by flattery.  According to one disgruntled noble, crowds of admirers would gather around the king to help him bathe and dress, even vying for the honor of assisting with royal grooming tasks.  Versailles became a byword for shameless excess in the face of poverty.  For one famous ball in 1696, the boutiques of Paris were stripped bare by invitees; socialites spent 10,000 livres on gowns (roughly $500,000 today) and one couple kidnapped a famous couturiere so he could not design for other guests.  In short, Versailles represented everything that French revolutionaries would soon come to hate about the monarchy.

As you stroll down the exhilarating Boulevard Saint Germain on the Left Bank in Paris, make sure to pay your respects to the three sacred “temples” of Parisian café society near the church of Saint-German-des-Près: the Café des Deux Magots, the Café de Flor (next door) and the Brasserie Lipp (across the road).  In the 1930s, this trio of charismatic establishments became the bohemian crossroads of Europe, when successful artists like Picasso, André Breton, Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp descended on them, bringing an entourage of writers, celebrities and fashionistas in their wake.

Under German occupation, the intellectual power couple Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir set up shop in the Flore, having been driven out of their old haunts by Nazi officers on r-and-r.  Since the couple was living in a cheap hotel at the time, they preferred to spend all day in the café.  Sartre later recorded their rigid daily working routine – writing from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.; lunch until 2 p.m.; chatting with friends until 4 p.m.; more writing until 8 p.m.; dinner until 10 p.m.; then late night business meetings in the cafe.  “It may seem strange, all this,” Sartre wrote, “but the Flore was like home to us…even when the air-raid alarm sounded, we would merely pretend to leave and then climb up to the first floor and go on working…”

Today, these famous cafes are still great places to do a little philosophizing as you watch the world go by.  At the Deux Magots, guests don’t sit at tables so much as antique wooden writing desks, and the menu suggests that this is the “rendez-vous of the intellectual elite.” The small square in front is now called the Place Sartres-Beauvoir, in honor of the passionate couple.