Points of Interest Area: 211,208 square miles (almost the size of Texas). Population: 58,040,000 (Paris, 2,150,000; Marseille, 868,000; Lyon, 410,000; Nice, 331,000). Language: French.

Highlights Paris, the "grande dame" of French art and heritage, has restored and added many jewels to her cultural crown. The Louvre's reorganization will be completed in 1998; reopened is the Sully wing with 11 new rooms dedicated to Oriental Antiquities.

The Île-de-France region surrounding Paris has a dozen castles, including Vaux-le-Vicomte, and the stately châteaux of Versailles and Fontainebleau.

Normandy and its beaches drew veterans and visitors during the D-Day anniversary year, with its moving memorials, museums and famous landing sites from the beaches named Omaha and Utah to Pointe-du-Hoc.

A connoisseur's Riviera includes the must-see medieval and cultural hill towns of Eze, Hauts-de-Cagnes, Vallauris, St-Paul-de-Vence and Peillon.

Lyon, where the Saône meets the Rhône, is famed for its outstanding restaurants and vast collection of artifacts at the Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine.

The French Alps soar from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean, and boast the highest peak in Western Europe, Mont Blanc (15,781 feet).

Alsace is a land of great vineyards; fortified villages like Riquewihr; and medieval towns like Colmar, overflowing with history and folklore. (text copied from somewhere)

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