France – The Church’s Older Daughter

Famous for its wines and cheeses, France is the world’s most popular tourist destination receiving 82 million foreign tourists annual. Visitors are attracted by historic cities, a beautiful countryside, the castles of the Loire Valley, and Brittany and Normandy. In addition, France offers an agreeable climate, some excellent beaches on the French Riviera, the Atlantic coast and the island of Corsica, wide possibilities for winter sports , most notably in the Alps and the Pyrenees, and a rich culture with food and wines that are among the most celebrated in the world.

France, which also have the names of “The Church’s Older Daughter”. France, a city of 66,021,744 people, is a sovereign country in Western Europe that includes overseas regions and territories. 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. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the nation's largest city and the main cultural and commercial centre. 

• Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a symbol of Paris and one of the top tourist attractions in France. The tower was built by Gustave Eiffel as the entrance arch for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889. Since its construction more than 200,000,000 people have visited the Eiffel Tower making it the most visited paid tourist attraction in the world. The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second. The third level observatory's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground, the highest accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. Although there are stairs to the third and highest level, these are usually closed to the public and it is generally only accessible by lift.

• Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel is an island commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre (0.6 miles) off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. 247 acres (100 ha) in size. The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the eighth century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it. On top God, the abbey and monastery, below this the Great halls, then stores and housing, and at the bottom, outside the walls, fishermen and farmers' housing. Its unique position of being an island only 600 metres from land made it readily accessible on low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey.

• Chateau de Chambord

The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures. The building, which was never completed, was constructed by King François I. At the heart of Europe's largest enclosed wooded park (around 19 mi² enclosed by a 20 mile-long wall), Chambord, the dream of a young king and a marvel of the Renaissance period, is the largest château in the Loire Valley. It boasts a pleasure garden and a hunting park both listed as Historical Monuments.