Frankrike

Named after France's most powerful natural spring, which wells up outside Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, the Vaucluse département sits on Provence's west side, sandwiched between the rumpled mountains of the Hautes-Alpes and the rocky Var coastline. Crossed by three great rivers – the Rhône, the Durance and the Sorgue – Vaucluse is renowned for its lavender fields and its vineyards, including the legendary Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The area has been occupied since ancient times, but it was the Romans who left the greatest mark in the form of Orange's ancient theatre and the remains of two Roman towns, Glanum and Vasio Vocontiorum. Centuries later, Avignon became the seat of papal power, and its crenellated ramparts and monumental Palais des Papes provide a glimpse of medieval majesty.

Vad sägs om att vakna upp med panoramautsikt över 80 vulkaner i Frankrike? Airbnb har precis lanserat en kampanj där två personer kommer få möjlighet att få bo i det runda minihuset – för bara tio kronor.

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.

Explosive history slumbers underground in the Auvergne. This land-locked region was scorched by ancient volcanoes, which left behind chains of cinder cones and mirror lakes, overlooked by the razor peaks of the Massif Central mountain range.

Named for the dolphin (dauphin) that graced the coat of arms of its prior rulers, the historic region of Dauphiné encompasses the territories south and southwest of Savoie, stretching from the Rhône River in the west to the Italian border in the east. It roughly corresponds to the départements of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes.

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.

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.

Where the Petit Rhône and Grand Rhône meet the Mediterranean, the Camargue arises: 930 sq km of sansouires (salt flats), étangs (small saltwater lakes) and marshlands, interspersed with farmland.

Svenska Jennifer Paterson är frilansjournalisten som flyttade till Paris med sin hund Garbo. Här lever hon ett späckat liv mitt i hjärtat av staden. Vi tog del av hennes bästa tips för en minnesvärd citysemester.

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.