Frankrike

Hauts-de-France (Upper France) is one of the country's least heralded regions, but with dramatic land and sea views, deeply rooted culture, culinary traditions that include freshly caught seafood, age-old Flemish recipes and locally brewed beers, it competes with the best France has to offer.

Stretching from Provence to the Pyrenees, this sultry, sun-baked territory (now part of the greater Occitanie region) feels like a country in its own right. It’s been a strategic border since Roman times and is awash with historical reminders, from Roman aqueducts to hilltop Cathar castles. Today it’s best known for its vineyards, which produce a third of France's wines, and the busy beaches sprawling along its Mediterranean shore.

Förutom att bubbla loss på champagne finns det massor att göra i vindistriktet med samma namn i norra Frankrike. Vagabond har tagit hjälp av champagne- och vinexperten Fredrik Schelin som ger sina bästa tips från området.

At the lower edge of the Atlantic Coast, the Gironde département extends to the Dordogne in the east and the Basque Country in the south. The gateway to its wealth of attractions, set amid glorious vine-ribboned countryside, is the capital city of Bordeaux.

Alsace is a cultural one-off. With its Germanic dialect and French sense of fashion, love of foie gras and choucroute (sauerkraut), fine wine and beer, this region often leaves you wondering quite where you are. Where are you? Why, in the land of living fairy tales, of course, where vineyards fade into watercolour distance, hilltop castles send spirits soaring higher than the region’s emblematic storks and half-timbered villages garlanded with geraniums look fresh-minted for a Disney film set.

Det råder ingen brist på grymma restauranger i Paris. Matjournalisten Anna Norström listar några av stadens hetaste ställen för en grym cocktail, matkonst och smöriga bakverk.

Paris' monument-lined boulevards, museums, classical bistros and boutiques are enhanced by a new wave of multimedia galleries, creative wine bars, design shops and tech start-ups.

Vi vänder bort blicken från den franska sommarfavoriten Korsika en stund. Här är fem, mindre kända, men härliga franska öar värda ett besök.

Kändiskocken Paul Bocuse spred stjärnglans över franska Lyon. Ett år efter hans död åker vi dit för att se om Lyon lever upp till ryktet som en av världens bästa matstäder.

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