Kids travel guide to... France! - Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station

None of the penguins at Penguin School ever want to leave the iceberg – they don’t want to go on holiday! Anywhere!

But my family are world-famous explorers so I’m making some travel brochures to try and change their minds!

You’ve probably seen travel brochures in a travel agent. Tourist offices and travel companies create them to promote countries or regions of them.

Why don’t you make your own travel brochure with me?

Click here to learn how to make your own travel brochure!

Here’s some information about France to help get you started…

France

Key facts

France is one of the largest countries in Europe.

Capital Paris

Largest City Paris (2.2 million residents)

Language French

Currency Euro

Population 66.03 million (2013)

Geography

France is one of the largest countries in Europe, stretching from the North Sea to the Mediterranean.

It has a diverse landscape, with mountains in the east and south. The highest mountain is the Mont Blanc, which is western Europe’s highest point and stands at the border between France and Italy.

Lowland France consists of four river basins, the Seine in the north, the Loire and the Garonne flowing westwards and the Rhône, which flows from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea.

France shares its borders with Belgium to the north-east, Germany and Luxembourg in the east, as well as Switzerland and Italy to the south-east.

Mainland France is divided into 27 regions and 101 departments. The Mediterranean island of Corsica belongs to France too, as do 5 overseas regions: French Guyana in South America, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean, La Reunion and Mayotte in Africa in the Indian Ocean.

France is often described as a country with six sides. Three are coasts and the others are borders with neighbouring countries.

Weather

France generally has cool winters and mild summers, quite similar to the weather in England.

As it’s quite a large country, the weather can vary from the north to the south. The north has cooler weather but the south of France is close to the Mediterranean and so it gets much hotter in the summer.

In fact, it’s hot enough to grow fruits like oranges and lemons.

Food

France is known for its fine food and French cooking is thought to be amongst the best in the world.

Visit France and you can expect to try dishes like quiche, soufflés, mousse, pâté, croissants, crêpes, and French bread.

The bread you will get in France in a typical French “boulangerie” (bakery) is mostly white wheat bread or bread sticks, called “baguette”. Many people in France like to drink their hot chocolate from bowls and dip their bread into it.

France is also known for it’s cheese, with more than 350 kinds of cheese being made in France.

The French people enjoy their main meal in the evening and this meal often consists of three courses starting with a ‘hors d’oeuvre’, a starter dish which often is soup or a salad and bread, then the main course and afterwards some cheese or fruit.

Try to visit also a patisserie and taste some of France’s tasty cakes and pastries, like the petit fours or pain au chocolat.

Some typical French food

Baguette: long bread stick
Croque Monsieur/Croque Madame: ham and cheese grilled sandwich while Croque Madame is the more heavy version with ham, cheese and a fried egg on top
Escargots: snails
Foie Gras: Goose liver pate
Ratatouille: vegetable stew
Pain au chocolat: similar to a croissant filled with chocolate
Crepes: French very thin pancakes with filling

Famous landmarks

Eiffel Tower

Probably one of the most famous symbols of France.

It was built in 1889 for an exhibition and was supposed to only be a temporary structure, however it was so popular with locals and tourists that it still stands today.

Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), a French engineer who designed the famous tower, also designed the Statue of Liberty which stands in New York’s harbour.