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this video is an excerpt from a muchlonger france travel talk by steve smith. to view other topics, or to watchsteve's france talk in its entirety, visit ricksteves.com, or check out myrick steves youtube channel. enjoy. france is a place ofgentle beauty, where the play of light can turn theroutine into the exceptional. my name's steve smith, and for 25 yearsi've been introducing rick to my favorite french people, and teaching himthe art of french living, while he taught me the science of guidebook writing.together we've produced a variety of books, maps, phrasebooks, and travel tipsto help you negotiate this marvelous

country. france is filled withiconic sights and mesmerizing views. my job today is to help you sort throughmany of those, so that you can organize your trip to be the bestexperience possible for you on your trip, hopefully in 2015 or 2016. let's getoriented first. france is central in europe, in western europe, you'll noticeit just between spain, with atlantic to its west, the mediterranean to the south,and germany, austria, switzerland, to its east. it doesn't suffer from the extremeheat of the south, nor cold of the north, so it's a mild climate, things grow wellthere. food, wine, think that. it's about 700 miles across from east to west andnorth to south. were it a square, it would take about

eleven hours to go to top to bottom orleft to right. what's astonishing about this country, is the variety of scenerythat is packed within a country eighty per cent the size of the state of texas. forthis country offers, from its northern monumental city of paris, to the capitalof the riviera, nice, in the south, pastoral landscapes, like this in normandy, to rock sculptedvillages of provence hanging from cliff edges. two distinctly differentcoastlines dominate the coastal region in france, from the rugged atlantic tothe west, to the balmy, warm seas of the mediterranean to the south.

wouldn't central european countries loveat least one coastline, france is blessed with two distinctly different ones. andif it's the highest peaks in europe that you must scale, you gotta go to france.france's-- europe's highest peaks are in the alps, 15,700 foot mont blancis resting there between switzerland and france for youto visit. the alps are just one of the main mountain regions in france, there are twoothers. the pyrenees form the mountain range to the southwestern corner of thecountry, guarding the border to spain andportugal, and the massif central mountain range harbors great canyons to thesoutheastern part of france, surprising

many americans as the destination foreuropean outdoor lovers and thrill-seekers. kayakers, whitewaterrafters, rock climbers love southern france for that reason. france has avariety of each culture. traveling between the various regions in france, you'llexperience different cultures and cuisines, as well as different scenery.for one day you could be here, the northeastern corner of france, quaffingliters of beer next to these germanic fellows, hearing a language that soundsvery german, and eating sauerkraut smothered in ham, and potatoes, andsausage, in the alsace in the northwestern corner of the country. thenext day, maybe ten hours away by car,

an hour flight away, you'd encounterlads like this who look more irish than french, and they are because this isbrittany, whose history and roots carry that history with them. andhere in this in this region of brittany, their sauerkraut is crepes and galette for dinner everynight. i imagine that most of these kids have never even seen sauerkraut in theirlife. such is the cuisine so regional in france. to the southwestern corner, wherethe locals look "muy spanish" and paella is on most venues and the fiesta-- thesiesta is still respected, to the southeastern corner where the-- wherefrance inherited its italian heritage

of "what me worry," "what's the hurry,"devil-may-care italian sort of love of life attitude. and you'll see this in the riviera andthe regions that border italy, and you find fresh pasta in most shops, andwindows, and in restaurants in this corner. traveling through france thenis like experiencing a variety of different countries in europe withinthis small country, again smaller than the state of texas. but france is morethan just a beautiful place to eat well and drink well, for in many ways, the richheritage of this country's history is a yardstick of human achievement. for here,you can trace the whole of western civilization from mesmerizing cave art20,000 years old, to roman ruins

that rival anything that italy has tooffer, to feudal fortresses that rival anything that the rest of the europeancountries have to offer, like here at carcassonne. all of this, in the countryof france. in the middle ages, france gave birth to gothic architecture.stretching the-- this technique of designing churches to stretch its ceilingstaller and filling their windows with radiant windows of stained glass. in the 1500s and 1600s, engineers and architects design palaces by thehundreds like this, announcing france's emergence aseurope's first superpower, and richest country by far.

becoming the envy of kings and queensthroughout europe, where palaces like this at vaux le vicomte, and certainly versailles justoutside the city of paris. in the 1800's, france gave birth to impressionist art, and the foundation of modern art, and theway we think abstractly today, born in the roots of french soil. you cantrace the origins too on your trip to france, all of this history stayingwithin this one country, and maintaining that foundation. france today insists onremaining capital of art today, designing homes for contemporary artiststhroughout the country, and performing arts as well, like the pompidou centerhere in paris. for many people, this range,

or this combination i wanna say, of richhistory, glorious scenery, great food and wine right sounds pretty tempting. andthey would have been long ago, many times, were it not for the french. waiters likethis can seem intimidating, until you understand how this system works. understand that this waiters tip isincluded in the bill. you do not tip in french restaurants,maybe just a little bit if the person was nice to you, but you don't tip. histips are included in the bill so he's not working for a tip, he's paid to befast and efficient. if you understand how the system works and you slow down,you'll have that waiter eating out of

your hand, by understanding the system andworking with that waiter. slow down, that's the first rule of travel in france tome, slow your itinerary down. see fewer regions, more time in fewer region forfrance rewards the traveler who slows down. take time to sample the goat cheese from jerry garcia's farm. if you're moving too fast you won't even see that he'shanding with that lovely piece of goat cheese. connect with the locals. i offeropportunities throughout the book in france to make these connections. goon a wine tour with michelle in southern france, take a cooking class anywhere throughoutthe country, connect with the locals, with thesefluent english-speaking people, and

understand what matters to them aboutculture and their country. and your trip will have an added dimension and becomemuch richer for it. traveling in france. getting around thecountry is really about as good as it gets. france is home to europe's state of the artbullet train system connecting all the major cities. two hundred miles anhour whisking you from left to right, to up to down. and remember. the country'sonly 700 miles across any way. you can cover alot of territory thanks to this technology. that's the good news. the badnews is you have to reserve these high-speed trains in france and franklyanywhere in europe. it's about $10 for a

reservation, that's no problem, but ifyou're traveling with a rail pass, which is generally a good value for americans,it's heavily subsidized by the french government. the problem is that theylimit the number of seats for pass holders on these tgvs, which means youjust have to be on the ball. book your train well ahead if you're travelingwith a rail pass, otherwise you don't have to worry about it that much, or separate your rail pass from tgvtrains and buy those trips when you're in france. local trains takeover will thewhere the bullet trains leave off, getting you to smaller towns andmid-size towns, and this will be most of the train riding you'll do if you'retraveling by train in france. and

minivans and regional buses take offwhere those trains leave you, allowing you to explore this marvelously,largely rural, country whether you're driving or not. these minivan tours thati'm showing you an example of here in the alsace region are an opportunity, even if you'redriving, to spend a day with a local. with running commentary as you go, join otherpeople and pile into his minivan. it's anywhere from 40 to 80 dollars aday for this kind of service, you see, and if you don't have a car it's essentialto seeing the small villages, caves in the dordogne region or the d-day beaches forexample. france seems to me like it was made for driving. the country after paris, betweenparis and nice, is largely-- the

highlights of this country are rural innature. you'll end up on a lot of small roadsjust like this. well maybe not quite this small, but thebeauty of driving in france is a big -- they drive on the same side of the road thatwe do, obey largely the same traffic rules that we do, and so much the country'srural compared to italy, or spain for example, where cities dominate yoursightseeing menu. in france it's gonna be castles,vineyards, hill towns and the like. making the advantage of a car terrific. i thinka great way to go when traveling to france is to mix high-speed train travelwith car rental. a lot of people like to

do that, why drive the eight hours fromparis to provence? take the two-hour bullet train, then rent a car from there,you see, unless you have things you wanna see on the way. there are a couple of keysigns i want to remind you of today before you embark on your driving in france,and this is the most important one. this signed is found throughout smallroads and highways in france everywhere. it warns you that there is a radarcoming, a camera box, that the speed limit is 50 miles, and if you're going fasterthan that, in 130 meters where the camera is, you'll get a ticket.and you ask yourself, how could anybody screw that up? you won't believe howoften they happen, how easy it is to do.

and if you're even going just 52 kilometers,two kilometers over the speed limit, that's like a mile and a half, you'll stillget a ticket, and the biggest part of the ticket is the ticket itself, not themileage above and beyond the speed limit. pay attention to those radar signs, andbuying gas is not as easy as it appears. understand i had this summer at ourhouse in burgundy where i hang my beret in research season, and friends cameto visit and rented a car and put the wrong gas in their diesel car. that's notcovered by insurance we found out, so i mean seriously understand that "gasoil" isdiesel, it comes in-- it's always black or yellow on the fuel handles. regular arethe other red and green handles that you

see. diesel gas is far cheaper france,20 to 25% cheaper than regular gasoline. most for manual transmissions come withit. it's a good deal and the mileage is better, you want a diesel car if you candrive a manual transmission. if you insist on an automatic car, probably it'sgoing to use regular gasoline. not the end of the world, the distances justaren't that great in france. even though they pay more than twice per gallon what we do, their carstypically get typically get twice the mileage, and again, the distance isn'tthat great. that's what i've realized years of researching by train-- car, pardon me.the problem of buying gas after

hours is an example of theheadache of traveling with credit cards today in france for some americans,credit cards work brilliantly at restaurants, hotels, shops, as long asthere's a person in front of you it's just like here, but if you want to useticket machines, pay toll booths because the toll roads in france aren't manned anymore, or youmight want to buy a train ticket from a ticket machine, or gas after hours. good luck, unless you have a chip on yourcredit card and a four digit pin associated with that, and even if youhave that as an american, don't count on it working everywhere. i don't understandwhy that's the case, but all of the

researchers at rick steves have had thatexperience, so your best bet is to get that credit card, 'cause it will work much of the time,but also always have cash on hand to pay that toll road when you leave thefreeway, or to buy gas when you need it and you're almost out, right. okay, sleeping in france. sleeping is-- aroundfrance accommodations are a remarkable range at reasonable prices. the mainstay hotels there are starred from oneto five stars. the hotels we recommend and focus on in our guidebook are two and threestar hotels. this is a two-star hotel in front of you

in honfleur, downtown honfleur. also we look forcentrally located places, reasonably priced, family run whenever possible. twostar hotels are simple, comfortable places, always privatebathrooms. 80 to 100 dollars, outside the city of paris, buys a two-star hotel on theaverage throughout the country of france. if you want a little bit more characterand sometimes more comfort, three-star hotels stay $150 a night for a doubleroom and it varies, more in paris, buys you that much more comfort, sometimes. iwant to warn you, three star hotels, i have listed many two star hotels that arebetter than three star hotels, trust the write-up in the guidebook.

use a guidebook, use resources beforeyou go. and even if you find your accommodations on your own, through othersources, use our books to know what you should be paying. we update these booksevery year, these prices should be accurate. that gives you a good handle onappropriate price to pay. the interior, three 3 star hotels is cozier, sometimeson rooms as well. four-star hotels are worth paying for, ithink, when you get to sleep in a seven hundred fifty year old castle like this,but not just 'cause you need four stars. trust me, three stars provides more thansufficient comfort for anybody in this room, and if you want to wake up feelinglike a king in the morning this is worth

paying for. mix your hotel accommodations up.stay in one star, two star, three star, four star hotels. really don't insist on a certainlevel of comfort and your budget will be pleased for that, and so will yourexperience. bed and breakfasts are marvelous optionsin france, and there are about 15,000 of them throughout the country. they're mostly in rural areas so you need a car to get to them. 80 to $100 for a double most, for most of these bed and breakfasts that i list, will buy a room and breakfast.this is a big deal because hotels in

france do not include breakfast as apart of their room price. you'll save, because bed and breakfasts includebreakfast, 25 to 30 dollars on the average for a couple per day for breakfast, by stayingin bed and breakfasts, good value. apartment rental and home rental, this isthe rage certainly in paris today. everybody wants to rent an apartment andeverybody wants to rent you an apartment. a apartment rental isrelatively easy to do, whether you go directly to the owner, or the way iprefer, using an organization to inspect these places, and i write them up in myguidebook, in our guidebook on paris to help you sift through the pros and cons.i can't know all of these apartments

because they change all of the time,unlike a hotel where it stays where it is and there's 50 rooms 30 rooms, ican inspect that. i can't do that for apartments, so you're left to your owndevices or the website reviews, client reviews to makethat decision. apartment rental won't save any money inparis, certainly, compared to a nice comfortable hotel. you'll get more space,a nice living room, and a kitchen, that's the big deal. you can savesome money on meals, certainly breakfast, by having your own cereal milk in the morning,or the advantage, i think, is you get to shop like a local, pretend that you're a local,and bring stuff back to your kitchen and

have to function that way, and cook maybea few times. but it'd be a shame not even restaurants in france, don't cook inyour kitchen every night. home rental throughout france is a greatvalue, i think, compared to apartment rental. they're called 'gite," g-i-t-e-s, and there home rental is generally saturday to friday night's,weekly only, and it's a good value. homes like this that you're seeing here in thecountryside are available throughout the country, but again its weeklyonly. here you'll spend about $1,500 on the average, and relatively high seasonfor a three-bedroom two-bathroom place so if there's three couples travelingtogether, that's 500 bucks per

week per couple, good value, plus you geta kitchen and lot of space to relax. eating in france. france should besightseeing for your taste buds, that's the reason you came. this is not a placeto skimp on your sightseeing budget, and bakeries like this should be a dailystop on anybody's itinerary. if you're staying at hotels and breakfast isn'tincluded, bakeries in cities often offer breakfastdeals for a fraction of the price. yeah sure it's a lot less than what you get atyour hotel, but a lot of times you only have the choice of $15 for the buffetbreakfast at hotel and that's too much for you. go to the neighborhood bakery, orcertainly to a cafe to order your

breakfast, and save lots of money andbreakfast-- break your croissant with locals. lunches that bakeries like thisoffer, fresh sandwiches, if you look closely you'll see them there, and treatsthroughout the day. the fresh sandwiches for $5 apiece make a great, cheap, on-the-go lunch formany people. cafes are the most flexible way to eatout in france. they're open late, their hours aregenerally longer than restaurants, and more flexible menus for you to orderfrom. and a cafe, perfect for bringing families and kids, you can order justsnails if that's all you want, or a salad

or bowl of french onion soup, whereas ata restaurant or bistro, you must order at least a main course. you can split thefirst course or a dessert, that's no problem, but everybody must order a main course.you can-- this is the kind of place that i look for naturally throughout thecountry places, where the chalkboard menu is brought to you by a waiter whosmiling. there are two ways of ordering food at a french restaurant, understandthis. the item, the object that he is showing you in french is called the "carte."ordering from "la carte" means "off the menu" to us it's a menu. if you order a menuin france, you've already ordered dinner. that's a fixed price: two, three, or fourcore sequence of items for a set price

that you've ordered. and that's a greatdeal if you want that much food. today in france, this never used to exist, mostrestaurants specialize in two course menus for about $25, tax and tip included.that's a good deal. you typically, and this is very common throughout almostall the restaurants, you can order a three-course. appetizer, main course,dessert. for two courses-- and that would be about say, $30, i'm close-- for twocourses, for maybe $25, you get a choice of entree, first course, i'm sorry, and maincourse or main course and dessert. when my wife and i travel together, she doesmain course and dessert, i do first course and main course, and we split thefirst and the third courses, you see. and

the best deal going, i think, today, are"plat du jours" in french-- in france. most cafes and restaurants offer this, about$20, tax and tip included, that's your dinner. beautiful plates, garnished, that'swhat a "plat du jour" is. not part of a menu, it's just "plat du jour," and often it'sbetter than the average item on the menu. every so often, much like hotels, allowyourself to splurge a little bit in a french restaurant scene and enjoy the ambiance of this kind of restaurant.i list places that, mostly thanks to my wife, she's a culinary expert, that she thinks areworth that kind of money. this is 48 euros by the way, for a four coursedinner at a place like this. and you have

to be willing to go with the chefsdaring concoctions. sometimes i don't recognize what i'm eating but that'sokay, that's part of the deal, isn't it though. so mix it up with restaurants also.cafes, bistros, restaurants, and elegant restaurants are a nice way to go.every so often do a picnic dinner, i think that's a great way to go as well.if you're traveling in the summertime, france is replete with vistas andbenches to have picnic dinners on. many people are perfect, love doing allof this-- they're perfect do it yourselfers. they look to be their ownguides, and all this organization makes total sense to them, and they love totake it on. others are a little bit

overwhelmed by the task. my friend rickhere lying on the floor of the louvre museum, right. for them, going on a tour, sharing theirexperience, but not the headaches of hotels, and, "how am i gonna get from pointa to point b," makes more sense. and we offer tours at rick steves, we offertours for people who-- for whom want to travel in the style, stay in thekind of hotels i've just described to you, and sharing their experience. our--it's 25 people on the average on a tour that we offer, in 48 passenger bus,traveling from region to region with a rick steves trained guide, matched with alocal expert everywhere. together

their teaching brings you great learning,and that is the hallmark of our tours, the most-- the core to our toursthen is teaching, and you're learning. group time and free time, you can learnby experiencing these great works of art on your own as well, can't you. sowe're leaving you free time to explore on your own, whether it's the art ofliving in "cafã© au laits,"or art as i showed you before. we occupy about two--half of your time on our tours. the other half you're free to use our guidebooks and explore onyour own. our guide-- we also use group time to take advantage of french's cuisine,france's cuisine, doing potluck picnics whenever we can.

and we offer options in the afternoon, ifyou want to join us for a special wine tasting with translation that would beimpossible, unless you spoke french, to do on your own, these are the advantagesof group travel, i think. we offer three-- four primary itineraries to enjoy the countryof france. we have a week in paris tour that runs basically year 'round. people love the week in paris, you only unpack once, we stay in a cozy hotel in a great neighborhood.or my favorite, or the best if you've never been before, paris and the heart of france. 11 days,featuring burgundy, a corner of burgundy, the loire valley, mont st-michel, thed-day beaches in normandy, claude monet's

gardens in giverny, and four nights inparis, as well. our western france tour is 13 days, starting outside of paris inchartres, running through the loire valley, the dordogne, languedoc, and provence, ending inthe french riviera. our west eastern france tour highlights the east, startingin the champagne district, going through the alsace, burgundy, the french alps,provence, and ending in marseille. the average price of a tour is about $300 aday and it includes everything but a few meals, your sightseeing is included, wedon't allow tips to the driver or the guides, that’s nice, that's annoying, buteverything's included, there are no surprises, and that's critical to rick.all of the information about getting ready

to go to france, that i have justexplained to you, is included in our france guidebook, and much more. all-- we evengive you a diagram of a roundabout, if you're driving, to show you how tomaneuver those in your car, and much more detail and how to get frompoint a to point b. if you've enjoyed this video,you'll find lots more at ricksteves.com, and on myrick steves youtube channel. happy travels, and thanks forjoining us.