Things to do in France

France is small enough to cross in a day by train and varied enough that the crossing changes everything. The question is rarely what there is to do in France, but which part of it to pick. Distance is seldom the obstacle.

How the map divides

• The Riviera. Nice, Villefranche, Eze, Antibes and Cannes sit within an hour of one another along a single coast road.
• Provence. Marseille opens onto the calanques, while Aix, Avignon and the wine villages of the Rhone lie inland.
• The Alps. Courchevel and Val Thorens share one lift system above the Tarentaise valley, and the season there is winter.
• The south-west. Bordeaux for cellars, Toulouse in pink brick, Carcassonne behind its walls, the Canal du Midi joining them.
• North and east. Normandy has the invasion beaches and Mont Saint-Michel; Alsace keeps Strasbourg and Colmar and a different accent.

Two calendars in one country

The coast and the mountains run opposite seasons. Snow holds in the Tarentaise from December into April, while the Riviera stays in double figures by day right through the winter. Choosing the month usually chooses the region.

What the country sells follows the same split.

• Cellars. Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhone and Alsace each run tastings on their own terms and their own grapes.
• Water. Mediterranean coves, Atlantic surf and the grey Channel are three unrelated holidays.
• Altitude. Ski instruction, off-piste guiding, paragliding and scenic helicopter flights carry the Alpine months.
• A driver and a car. Away from the cities the good things sit twenty minutes apart and no train goes there.

Practical

• Trains. Paris reaches Lyon in about two hours, Bordeaux in a little over two and Marseille in about three; fares are far cheaper booked weeks ahead than days ahead.
• Weather. North of the Loire the winter is grey and wet from November to March, the south stays bright, and the high Alps hold snow into spring.
• Museum days. Most public collections shut one weekday, usually Monday or Tuesday, and the busy ones sell timed entry only.
• Tipping. Service is included in the bill by law, so rounding up is generous and leaving nothing in a cafe is normal.
• Eating cheaply. Lunch is the bargain meal, and an espresso taken standing at the counter costs a fraction of the same cup at a terrace table.
• August. Much of provincial France closes for a fortnight, restaurants included, and the coast is at its most crowded.