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For more information, visit the Reims Tourism Office at www.reims-tourism.com.

City region: Champagne / Grand Est

Population & what they are called: 186,971 inhabitants (2014 census), called Rémois

Access from Paris:

• by road: about 1 h 30 min (90 miles) via the A4 autoroute de l'Est

• by train: about 45 minutes by TGV from the Gare de l'Est

Famous native daughters & sons:

• Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, television journalist and writer

• Kyan Khojandi, actor

• Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, world champion cyclist

Most distinctive and/or unique fact or trait (or little known fact):

• Reims was more than 80% destroyed in World War I, but rebuilt in less than 10 years by more than 400 architects.

• A bottle of champagne is opened every 10 seconds.

Notable sites:

• Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Reims – for more than 1,200 years the place where the kings of France were coronated

• Porte Mars – a beautifully preserved Roman gate

• Fort de la Pompelle – tells the story of how the Great War fashioned today's Reims

Top annual events:

• La Magnifique Society Festival – electro-pop music festival (lamagnifiquesociety.com)

• Les Flâneries Musicales – a month-long series of classical concerts (flaneriesreims.com)

• Les Fêtes Johanniques – two days of public holiday in the atmosphere of the Middle Ages to celebrate Joan of Arc (reims-fetes.com/fetes_johaniques.php)

Most notable museums:

• Palais du Tau – a palace used as the residence of the kings during their coronations (palais-du-tau.fr/en/)

• Musée des Beaux-Arts – five centuries of painting, sculpture, furniture and art objects

• Musée Saint-Rémi – set in the royal abbey of Saint-Remi with historic objects from the city's past

Culinary specialties:

• jambon de Reims – made from pork shoulder that is brined, cooked in stock, seasoned, pressed into molds and then coated in breadcrumbs

• gingerbread – baked out of rye flour and buckwheat honey

• biscuits roses – the famous pink biscuit, one of the oldest in France

Local wines & spirits:

• champagne – Reims is a center of champagne production, home to the headquarters of large champagne-producing houses, many open for tasting and tours

• Bouzy rouge – light red wine that gives pink champagne its color

• ratafia – a fortified wine made from leftover champagne pressings

Shopping:

• Rue de Vesle – the main commercial street

• Grande Boutique du Vin – a comprehensive inventory of more than 150 types of champagne (vinscph.com/en/)

• Maison Fossier – has produced the famous pink biscuit for more than 260 years (fossier.fr/en/)

Most popular night spots:

• La Loge – food and relaxing dinner music that gives way to a full-blown night club

• Le Clos – excellent wine bar with a sizable courtyard

• Le Wine Bar – a relaxing bar with more than 500 wines and champagnes

Local population’s favorite activities (or hangouts):

• Coulée Verte – a green corridor for jogging and cycling

• Parc de la Patte d’Oie or Parc Léo Lagrange – green spaces that lend themselves to relaxation

• Montagne de Reims – the vineyard-covered hill south of town, a hiker's paradise of gorgeous forests and numerous wine villages, like Verzenay and its Vine Museum

Local industries:

• champagne – it is impossible to separate Reims from its champagne heritage

• bioeconomy – agriculture and its ancillary industries, including the industrial development of agricultural resources

In Pop Culture:

• local musicians – Reims natives include Yuksek, an electronic music producer, remixer and DJ; and The Shoes, an electro-rock duo

• Expérience Pommery – modern art exhibitions in the chalk galleries and cellars of the prestigious

For more information, visit the Nice Convention and Visitors Office at www.nicetourisme.com.

City region: Côtes d'Azur / Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Population & what they are called: 343,895 inhabitants (2014 census), called Niçois

Access from Paris:

• by road: about 8 h 30 min (296 miles) via the A6 and A7 autoroute du Soleil

• by train: about 5 h 30 min by TGV from the Gare de Lyon

• by plane: 1 direct flight from NYC every day and from Paris 30 times a day

Famous native daughters & sons:

• Francis Lay, musician

• J. M. G. Le Clézio, writer and Nobel Prize laureate in literature

• Simone Veil, first president of the European Parliament

Most distinctive and/or unique fact or trait (or little known fact):

• Nice's ancient past is immersed in its present: Terra Amata is an archeological site with evidence of very early use of fire and right on the edge of town is the Grotte du Lazaret, a cave with vestiges of prehistoric human occupation.

• France's first city to have been granted a wine-producing AOC [Protected Designation of Origin] label across its municipality.

Notable sites:

• Vieux Nice – a lively commercial area of narrow streets little changed since the 1700s

• Cathédrale Orthodoxe Russe St-Nicolas – one of the biggest Russian Orthodox churches outside Russia

• Observatoire de Nice – when it became operational in 1888, it was the world's largest telescope, still in use today

Top annual events:

• Carnaval de Nice – Carnival, light and flower parades held around Mardi Gras (nicecarnaval.com/en)

• Nice Jazz Festival – concerts by prestigious jazz musicians (nicejazzfestival.fr)

• Festival Crossover – electronic and alternative music festival (festival-crossover.com)

Most notable museums:

• Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC) – avant-garde art from the 1950s to the present, including works from the Nice School, New Realism and Pop Art (mamac-nice.org/english/)

• Musée Matisse – the only museum dedicated to – and created in cooperation with – the artist (musee-matisse-nice.org)

• Musée Masséna – dedicated to the history of the Riviera, set in a belle-époque building

Culinary specialties:

• pissaladière – onion tart with olives and anchovies

• ratatouille – a concoction with tomatoes as a foundation for sautéed vegetables and herbs

• salade niçoise – traditionally made with tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives and tuna and/or anchovies with an olive oil dressing

Local wines & spirits:

• AOC Bellet wine – one of the oldest vineyards in France yields remarkable white, red and rosé wines

Shopping:

• Cours Saleya – daily food and flower markets, except on Mondays when it's all about antiques

• Caprice Vintage – Nice’s number one vintage shop, focusing on 1920-1950 (capricevintageshop.com)

• Antique District – over 100 antique stores in the Port

Most popular night spots:

• Vieux Nice – plenty of good animated bars and pubs

• Shapko Bar – live music bar with jazz, soul, rock and more

• Ma Nolan's – a rowdy Irish pub with live music

Local population’s favorite activities (or hangouts):

• Promenade des Anglais – the famous seaside boulevard along which locals hike, run and bike

• beaches – four miles of strand, both public and private, right in the city

• Parc du château – the historic Castle Hill park with amazing city and ocean views, especially at sunset

Local industries:

• Sophia Antipolis – a nearby technology park houses companies in the fields of computing, electronics, pharmacology and biotechnology

• Eco-Valley – one of France's largest areas (25,000 acres) dedicated to sustainable development

• medical research – University Hospital of Nice is very active in cutting-edge medical research and innovation due in part to its involvement in information and communication technology for the health sector and ambitious projects such as Pasteur 2, the largest hospital construction project in France

In Pop Culture:

• Riviera – the 2017 British TV drama/mini-series is filmed in and around Nice

• Ronin – the infamous car chase and street scenes in this 1998 action movie with Robert De Niro and Jean Reno was filmed on location in Nice

• Magic in the Moonlight – Woody Allen’s 2014 romantic comedy was filmed in part in Nice

Major 2020 development:

• Nice, capital of the French Riviera will now be accessible via daily non-stop flights from New York/Newark starting May 2, 2020 with United Airlines

For more information, visit the Metz Tourism Office at www.inspire-metz.com.

City region: Lorraine / Grand Est

Population & what they are called: 119,775 inhabitants (2014 census), called Messins

Access from Paris:

• by road: about 3 hours (206 miles) via the A4 autoroute de l'Est

• by train: about 1 h 25 min by TGV from the Gare de l'Est

Famous native daughters & sons:

• Carole Gaessler, journalist

• Robert Schuman, politician and a founding father of the European Union

• Paul Verlaine, poet

Most distinctive and/or unique fact or trait (or little known fact):

• The largest surface area of stained glass windows in France is found in Metz cathedral (70,000 ft² from the 13th to 20th centuries).

• Laurent Wiltz, director of Mr Hublot, Academy Award winner for Best Short Film (Animated) in 2014, studied fine art in Metz.

Notable sites:

• Quartier Impérial – a magnificent and intact example of German town planning

• Cathédrale St-Etienne – one of the most impressive Gothic churches in Europe

• Porte des Allemands and ramparts – a fortified gateway attached to vestiges of the medieval ramparts that were once 7km long

Top annual events:

• Festival Mirabelle – a series of mirabelle plum-based activities that take place in late summer (metz.fr/pages/culture/evenements_culturels/fetes_mirabelle.php)

• Marché de Noël – France’s second most visited Christmas Market (noelmetz.com)

• Constellations – a summer festival of art and culture focused on the digital arts (constellations-metz.fr)

Most notable museums:

• Centre Pompidou-Metz – this sister institution of the Pompidou Center in Paris is a cultural center with innovative multi-disciplinary programs in contemporary art (centrepompidou-metz.fr/en/)

• Musée de la Cour d’Or – a maze of galleries visiting 2,000 years of Metz city history, from Gallo-Roman times to the 19th century (musee.metzmetropole.fr)

• FRAC Lorraine – a contemporary art collection at the Regional Contemporary Art Fund of Lorraine (fraclorraine.org/en/)

Culinary specialties:

• Metz mirabelle – a small golden plum that makes excellent jam and brandy

• Paris-Metz – cake made of macaroons, filled with mousse and topped with raspberries

• macarons de Boulay – an almond-flavored macaroon (macaronsdeboulay.com)

Local wines & spirits:

• Moselle AOC wines – a rich and varied range of wines can be discovered on the 25km wine trail of the Metz region

• Mirabelle liqueur – a brandy distilled from the mirabelle, the small plum of the Lorraine region

Shopping:

• Marché Couvert – this covered market (once a bishop's palace) has a wide choice of local produce and specialties

• flea market – second largest in France (after St-Ouen near Paris), located in the Metz Expo

• the heart of the city – major shopping streets include Rue des Clercs, Rue Serpenoise and Rue Taison

Most popular night spots:

• Place St Jacques – bars and terraces are open until 2am

• Arsenal – one of the grandest concert halls in Europe

• Café Jehanne d’Arc – a watering hole dating back to the 13th century

Local population’s favorite activities (or hangouts):

• Plan d'eau – a favorite local park, at a bend in the Moselle River, for strolling and paddling

• Jouy Canal – especially popular with joggers and walkers, emerges into a lake opposite Mont Saint‐Quentin

• Jardin botanique – a botanical garden with ponds, winding paths and a toy train railway

Local industries:

• energy – electric stations powered by gas, nuclear, water, wind and solar; one of France’s largest biomass power stations is in Metz, delivering 60% of the city’s heat from renewable resources

• automobile – car and car-part factories such as PSA Tremery, a leader in building motors and gear boxes

In Pop Culture:

• An American Werewolf in Paris – a 1997 comedy horror movie that was partly filmed in Metz

• The Hunters – parts of this 2011 French thriller were filmed at Metz's Fort de Queuleu

• the written works of François Rabelais, Paul Verlaine, Bernard-Marie Koltès and Adrienne Thomas

Major 2020 developments:

• 800th Anniversary of the city's Saint-Etienne Cathedral, nicknamed "The Lantern of God," is renowned for its Chagall stained-glass windows. Celebrations begin December 8, 2019 through December 8. 2020.

• 2020 will also be the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Pompidou Metz, the regional wing of Paris' Pompidou Center

For more information, visit Bordeaux Tourism at www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk.

City region: Aquitaine / Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Population & what they are called: 250,776 municipality inhabitants (2016 census), called Bordelais

Access from Paris:

• by road: about 5 h 40 min (363 miles) via the A10 autoroute called L'Aquitaine

• by train: about 2 hours by TGV from the Gare Montparnasse

• by plane: about 1 h 15 min from Paris

Famous native daughters & sons:

• François Mauriac, writer and Nobel laureate

• Michel de Montaigne, philosopher and essayist

• Jean-Jacques Sempé, cartoonist

Most distinctive and/or unique fact or trait (or little known fact):

• Bordeaux is the most extensive urban environment in the world to be honored as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• 22 bottles of wine from Bordeaux are sold every second all over the world.

Notable sites:

• Vieille ville – Old Bordeaux, its historic sites (the big bell tower, Place Pey-Berland, Opera House), elegant architecture and numerous wine bars

• Cité du Vin – a unique immersive journey into the discovery of wine cultures (laciteduvin.com/en)

• Miroir d'eau – world's largest water mirror, located on the Place de la Bourse

Top annual events:

• Bordeaux Fête le Vin – a large biennial four-day wine festival that celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2018 (June 14 to 18) with the arrival of the Tall Ships Regatta (bordeaux-wine-festival.com)

• Bordeaux S.O Good – a three-day festival of epicurean and gourmet food, 7,000 gourmet dishes cooked by a collective of chefs (bordeauxsogood.fr)

• International Festival of Arts of Bordeaux Métropole – nicknamed the FAB, it's three weeks of “artistic effervescence” (fab.festivalbordeaux.com/en/)

Most notable museums:

• Musée des Beaux Arts – one of France's best painting galleries with artwork by masters from many eras – Rubens to Delacroix to Picasso (musba-bordeaux.fr/en)

• Musée d'Aquitaine – archeological and history museum (musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr/en)

• Bernard Magrez Institut Culturel – cultural institute with temporary exhibitions of modern art (institut-bernard-magrez.com)

Culinary specialties:

• oysters – straight from the sea at Arcachon

• canelé – a rum- and vanilla-flavored pastry with a thick caramelized crust and soft custard center

• entrecôte bordelaise – a quality cut of beef grilled over a wood fire

Local wines & spirits:

• Bordeaux wine – famous reds and dry, sweet and even sparkling whites, well worth visiting at the wineries and learning about through a tasting class

• Lillet – made near Bordeaux with wine and fruit liqueur as a great prelude to any meal

Shopping:

• Rue Sainte-Catherine – the main shopping street in town, often acclaimed as the longest pedestrian street in Europe (0.75 miles long)

• Marché des Capucins – Bordeaux’s principal market hall, one of the best and biggest cupboards in the southwest of France

• wine marmalade – all the delicious taste without the alcohol

Most popular night spots:

• La Plage – the largest open-air dance floor in a city in France

• I.BOAT – a concert hall, club and restaurant on a boat moored in a tidal basin

• Mama Shelter – a rooftop bar with amazing city views

Local population’s favorite activities (or hangouts):

• Quays of the Garonne River – run, bike or stroll from the Jacques Chaban-Delmas Bridge to the Pont de pierre (Stone Bridge)

• Marché des Chartrons – an outdoor Sunday market and perfect place for a glass of wine with oysters, or a canelé

• Darwin Ecosystem – a green hub and alternative place dedicated to sustainable economic development and featuring an organic restaurant, urban farm, skate parks etc. (darwin.camp)

Local industries:

• wine – with the largest AOC vineyards of France, Bordeaux is one of the world's most important wine producers and exporters

• laser and plasma technologies – the Bordeaux area has the most important concentration of optical and laser expertise in Europe

In Pop Culture:

• The Mummy – a 2016 movie with Tom Cruise with a scene made in Mérignac, near Bordeaux

• The Flower of Evil (La fleur du mal) – a 2003 movie by Claude Chabrol about a seemingly perfect bourgeois family in Bordeaux

• Les Misérables – a Robert Hossein adaptation of the famous novel, released in 1982

Major 2020 developments:

• The trendy and rejuvenated neighborhood of Bacalan welcomes in spring 2020 the Bassin des Lumières, a grand digital exhibition space housed in the former WWII submarine base. It will also neighbor the Cité du Vin and the new Musée Mer Marine, all a 15mn tram ride from the city’s central Place de la Comédie.