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Montpellier Parc Zoologique
Four kilometres north of the city centre, this excellent zoo – France’s second largest, covering 60 hectares – has an enormous population of wild residents that span the world’s continents, including a rare white rhinoceros, three young leopard brothers (called Tao, Tango and Twist
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Musée Ingres
The main focus of Montauban is this fine arts museum, which centres on the work of the neoclassical painter (and accomplished violinist) Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, who was born in Montauban in 1780. Inspired by Poussin and David, Ingres became one of the most celebrated portrai
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Palais Fesch – Musée des Beaux
One of the island’s must-sees, this superb museum established by Napoléon’s uncle has France’s largest collection of Italian paintings outside the Louvre. Mostly the works of minor or anonymous 14th- to 19th-century artists, there are also canvases by Titian, Fra Bartolomeo, Verone
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Musée du Pays Châtillonnais
Châtillon’s main claim to fame is the Trésor de Vix (Vix Treasure), a collection of Celtic, Etruscan and Greek objects from the 6th century BC on display at the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais. The outstanding collection includes an exquisitely ornamented, jaw-droppingly massive Greek
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Abbaye du Mont St
The Mont’s star attraction is the stunning architectural ensemble high up on top: the abbey. Most areas can be visited without a guide, but it’s well worth taking the one-hour tour included in the ticket price; English tours (usually) begin at 11am and 3pm from October to March, wi
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Indian & Chinese Cemetery
Towards the end of WWI, tens of thousands of Chinese labourers were recruited by the British government to perform noncombat jobs in Europe, including the gruesome task of recovering and burying Allied war dead. Some of these travailleurs chinois (Chinese labourers) as well as Indi
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Place de la Concorde
Paris spreads around you, with views of the Eiffel Tower, the Seine and along the Champs-Élysées, when you stand in the city’s largest square. Its 3300-year-old pink granite obelisk was a gift from Egypt in 1831. The square was first laid out in 1755 and originally named after King
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Ville Haute
You can walk all the way around the Upper City – a hilltop island of centuries-old buildings and cobblestone streets – atop the rectangular, tree-shaded ramparts . The Basilique Notre Dame , its towering, Italianate dome visible from all over town, is an odd structure built from 18
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Place de la Bastille
The Bastille, a 14th-century fortress built to protect the city gates, is the most famous monument in Paris that no longer exists. Nothing remains of the prison it became under Cardinal Richelieu, which was mobbed on 14 July 1789, igniting the French Revolution, but you can’t miss
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Conciergerie
A royal palace in the 14th century, the Conciergerie later became a prison. During the Reign of Terror (1793–94) alleged enemies of the Revolution were incarcerated here before being brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal next door in the Palais de Justice . Top-billing exhibiti
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Abbaye St
The glorious Abbaye St-Pierre, resplendent with some of France’s finest Romanesque architecture, is particularly known for its tympanum, the crescent-shaped frieze above its south portal. Completed in 1130, it depicts St John’s vision of the Apocalypse, with Christ in majesty flank
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Abbaye de Pontigny
Founded in 1114, Abbaye de Pontigny rises from the lush mustard fields 25km north of Auxerre. The spectacular abbatiale (abbey church) is one of the last surviving examples of Cistercian architecture in Burgundy. The simplicity and purity of its white-stone construction reflect the
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Australian Corps Memorial Park
Inaugurated in 2008, this memorial commemorates the engagement of more than 100,000 Australians who served in the Australian Corps in France. It stands on the hilltop site of the Battle of Le Hamel (4 July 1918), fought and won by Australian and American troops under the command of
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Ossuaire de Douaumont
Rising like a gigantic artillery shell above 15,000 crosses that bleed into the distance, this sombre, 137m-long ossuary, inaugurated in 1932, is one of France’s most important WWI memorials. A ticket to the 20-minute audiovisual presentation on the battle also lets you climb the 4
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Domaine National de Chambord
This huge hunting reserve (the largest in Europe) stretches for 54 sq km around the château, and is reserved solely for the use of high-ranking French government personalities (though somehow it’s difficult to imagine François Hollande astride a galloping stallion). About 10 sq km
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Parc de la Villette
The largest park in Paris, the Parc de la Villette is a cultural centre, kids’ playground and landscaped urban space at the intersection of two canals, the Ourcq and the St-Denis. Its futuristic layout includes the colossal mirrorlike sphere of the Géode cinema and the bright-red c
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La Merveille
The buildings on the northern side of the Mont are known as ‘The Marvel’. The famous cloître (cloister) is surrounded by a double row of delicately carved arches resting on granite pillars. The early-13th-century, barrel-roofed réfectoire (dining hall) is illuminated by a wall of r
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Jardin des Plantes
North of place Royale du Peyrou is one of Montpellier’s hidden gems, the Jardins des Plantes – the oldest botanical garden in France. Established in 1593, it was used as a model for the much better-known Jardins des Plantes in Paris, laid out nearly 30 years later. Along its shady
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Calanque de Sormiou
The largest calanque hit headlines in 1991 when diver Henri Cosquer from Cassis swam through a 150m-long passage 36m underwater into a cave to find its interior adorned with wall paintings dating from around 20,000 BC. Now named Grotte Cosquer , the cave is a protected historical m
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Somme American Cemetery
In late September 1918, just six weeks before the end of WWI, American units – flanked by their British, Canadian and Australian allies – launched an assault on the Germans heavily fortified Hindenburg Line. Some of the fiercest fighting took place near the village of Bony, on the
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