Don't miss out on 15% off all books! | | | I write this late at night, having just returned from a concert in a Roman amphitheater in Lyon. Angélique Kidjo sang songs from various African nations with the backing of Lyon’s permanent orchestra while the crowd sat in 2000-year-old seats. France is the most-visited country in the world yet holds an endless capacity to surprise and delight. A trip to France is a promise to yourself to have a good time, filled with the building blocks of a life well lived: prioritizing rest, dining on incredible local food and unrushed time with loved ones. Mix in ancient history, innovative culture and diverse landscapes, and sometimes I wonder why I ever visit anywhere else. But there’s always more to discover, and with that comes this book. Our local writers have shared their favorite experiences: Paris’ secret villages, cheese and cider road trips through Normandy, village hopping in the Corrèze, surfing around Biarritz and, yes, festivals in Roman amphitheaters. Why deny yourself a trip to France any longer? - AnneMarie McCarthy, Destination Editor | | | Just for you: 15% off all books | Use code ###### at checkout. Explore new Experience guides, updated Classic guides and more. | *Valid through 6/30/24 for one-time use. Online only. Exclusions apply. | | | An expert's guide to France | Nicola Williams has authored more than 50 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, including the newly-released Experience France guidebook. Here she shares local tips and cultural insights to enhance your next French escape. | The French have always loved pulling out the spandex for a Sunday cycle, but biking as a means of getting around and sightseeing is booming. The Summer Olympics in Paris will be a brilliant op to test the capital’s mushrooming cycling lanes, while long-distance cycling itineraries like the new La Vélomaritime can be cut into short half- or day-ride chunks. Find routes, plan and map rides on the brilliant France Vélo Tourisme. | Locals know French cheese is seasonal. So Mont d’Or is only sold mid-September to mid-May, Camembert tastes best in summer when cows eat fresh grass, and May/June is the time for goat cheeses like Sainte-Maure de Touraine when you can practically taste that wildflower meadow the goats have scoffed. | Discover a hidden gem: peat bogs in the Haut-Jura. There are hundreds in this remote region in eastern France, many on mountain lake shores, and exploring them on foot – several have boardwalks making them accessible – is unexpectedly thrilling. To think peatlands that formed at the end of the last Ice Age are now critical carbon stores and refuges for rare flora is wild and humbling. – Nicola Williams, Lonely Planet Author | | | Like nowhere else on earth | “With its palace-bejewelled cities, castle-crested hills, looking-glass lakes and soaring, snowcapped Alps, Austria does backdrops like nowhere else on earth.” Lonely Planet writer Kerry Walker leads off our latest guidebook covering Austria. | | | This email was sent to you by: | Lonely Planet Publications Ltd. | 1101 Red Ventures Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29707 | | | |
