France is one of the more popular European countries to visit. If you have a long, transtlantic flight, you'll likely land in Paris, a great place from which to start your exploration of France and the rest of Europe.
From Paris you can easily visit Chartres (and its cathedral) or Versailles on a day trip. See some of France's great wine regions? From Paris, you can head for Dijon, which is in the north of Burgundy. By train, the trip should take a little over an hour and a half to the station called Dijon Ville.
City Map of France
France Travel Toolbox
From Paris, you can take a fast TGV train between cities. For example, From Paris Gare de Lyon station the TGV train gets to Lyon in 2 hours and 40 minutes. The Eurolines bus is slightly cheaper, but takes over 7 hours making the same trip.
Eating in France
Lunch in France is generally served between 12 and 2pm. It may be difficult to find restaurants open in the afternoon. Dinner is served from 7-9pm.
Set menus, like the menu du jour, the menu of the day, are usually good values.
A bistro may offer a better value than a restaurant.A brasserie (meaning brewery--designating beer is served) is also a less formal experience than a restaurant.
France has wonderful cheeses. An inexpensive meal can be had by buying cheeses, olives and bread from an open air market (you can also fine roast chicken in many markets as well).
Driving in France - Auto Transportation, Rental and Leasing
French roads are generally quite good, although the toll roads (autoroutes) can get expensive.
If you are planning to rent a car, remember that you can make use of the French lease buyback plan if you're staying over 20 days. This allows you to lease a brand new car with full insurance, usually for less than the cost of a rental.
You can also get around France (and the rest of Europe) by long distance bus services like Eurolines. If you'd like to see how driving in French rules of the road might be different from your country, the driving guides from Tripiamo are a good investment.