Frankrike

Lyxigt och otroligt vackert, men diskret och såklart populärt bland kändisarna. Vi kollar in Paris minsta 5-stjärniga hotell med en speciell historia.

Champagne arouses the senses: the eyes feast on vines parading up hillsides and vertical processions of tiny, sparkling bubbles; the nose breathes in damp soil and the heavenly bouquet of fermentation; the ears rejoice at the clink of glasses and the barely audible fizz; and the palate tingles with every sip. The imagination and the intellect are engaged as Champagne cellar visits reveal the magical processes – governed by the strictest of rules – that transform the world’s most pampered pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay grapes into this Unesco World Heritage–listed region’s most fabled wines.

Säg "au revoir" till Paris hektiska storstadspuls och ge dig iväg för att utforska de vackra omgivningarna. Här är åtta förslag på trevliga dagsturer, de flesta går att göra enkelt med tåg.

France's westernmost département, Finistère (www.finisterebrittany.com) has a wind-whipped rocky beach and cove-strewn coastline dotted with lighthouses and beacons lashed by the waves. Wild and mysterious, Finistère is, for many travellers, the most enticing edge of an already enticing region.

Camargue i södra Frankrike bjuder på en vild natur och djurliv, oexploaterad från massturism. Vi guidar dig rätt i det vidsträckta floddeltaområdet.

The Auvergne’s most exhilarating views are among the volcanic cones, snow-lashed peaks and crater lakes of its Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans (www.parcdesvolcans.fr). One of France’s largest regional natural parks at 3897 sq km, this photogenic section of the Massif Central mountains is a geological jigsaw of granite plateaus and glacier-sculpted valleys, puckered by dozens of sleeping volcanoes.

Burgundy (Bourgogne in French) offers some of France's most gorgeous countryside: rolling green hills dotted with mustard fields and medieval villages. The region's towns and its dashingly handsome capital, Dijon, are heirs to a glorious architectural heritage that goes back to the Renaissance, the Middle Ages and into the mists of Gallo-Roman and Celtic antiquity.

Gastronomy and good living are the passions underpinning this sun-kissed corner of southwestern France.