The French wrote the book on la vie en rose and gave the world Champagne and camembert, de Beauvoir and Debussy, the Tour de France and the Tour Eiffel. So if they have a finely tuned sense of national pride, who are we to point fingers? Although the ubiquity of Levis and Le Big Mac flusters the country's cultural purists, anything from a year in Provence to a weekend in Paris will explain why half the world grows dreamy over stalking the streets of Cyrano or picnicking Manet-style sur l'herbe. France has been synonymous with Romance for longer than your grandmother cares to remember, so whether you visit Paris or the Pyrenees, the Côte d'Azur or the auberge de jeunesse, be sure to keep your fantasies in check, your expectations in line and your joie in your vivre.

Full name : French Republic
Capital : Paris (pop 10.95 million)
Area : 551,500 sq km (213,330 sq mi)
Population : 60.8 million
People : 92% French, 3% North African, 2% German, 1% Breton, 2% Other (including Provençal, Catalan & Basque)
Language : French (also Flemish, Alsacian, Breton, Basque, Catalan, Provençal & Corsican)
Religion : 90% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 1% Muslim, 1% Jewish, 6% unaffiliated
Government : Democracy
President : Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime Minister : François Fillon

GDP : US$1.79 trillion
GDP per head : US$29,600
Growth rate : 1.2%
Inflation rate : 1.7%
Major industries : Oil refining, steel, cement, aluminium, agricultural products & foodstuffs (wheat, barley, maize, cheese), luxury goods, chemicals, motor manufacturing, energy products
Trading partners : EU (Germany, Italy, UK), USA
EU member : yes
Euro-zone member : yes