What makes France stand out, and what the French abroad miss most.
Food is a cultural pillar, from the boulangerie on the corner to the Sunday lunch. The meal is meant to be shared and savoured, not rushed.
The French work to live, not live to work: long lunches, five weeks of paid holiday, and a strong sense that evenings, weekends and August belong to family and friends.
Alps and Pyrenees, Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, vineyards, lavender fields and Paris: few countries pack so much variety into a day’s drive.
Saying “bonjour” when you enter a shop, “merci, bonne journée” when you leave, and “vous” with people you do not know: small rituals that make everyday life smoother.
A proper baguette, a cheese course after the main dish, and a market stall that sells ten kinds of goat’s cheese.
A coffee that can last an hour, a table on the pavement and no one hurrying you to leave.
Twice-weekly open-air markets where you know the stallholders, choose your produce by sight and smell, and stop to chat.
Villages and cities where you can walk to the bakery, the pharmacy and the school, and catch a fast train to the next city.
The balance between tu and vous, the bise on the cheek, and a confidence that good manners and good humour go together.