France

Guides from France

• Guadeloupe Region

Bonjour ! Bonjour is hello; merci is thank you.

Emblems

• De l’Expo à l’Éternité: Paris, Île-de-France
• Reims Cathedral: Reims, Grand Est
• The Starry Night: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
• Le Graoully: Metz, Grand Est
• Each Emblem keeps its Passport's look and opens its own page.

Regions

• 13 Regions in Europe and 5 overseas. A Region without a flag of its own shows its outline. Names in your language, the official name under it.

France in a minute

Bleu, blanc, rouge

• Flag: Blue, white and red in three equal vertical bands, blue at the pole: the national emblem named in the Constitution of 1958, Article 2.
• Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité: The motto of the Republic, in the same article.
• No coat of arms (Picture: the unofficial emblem): France has no official coat of arms. The emblem on passports, the fasces with RF, is unofficial; the Constitution names the flag as the national emblem.
• Fête nationale: France’s national day, with a parade in Paris and fireworks across the country.
• La Marseillaise: Written and composed by Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg in 1792; the national anthem since 1879.
• Capital city: Paris
• Currency: Euro
• Language: French
• Population: 68.6 million (2025)

Say it like a local

• Bonjour (hello)
• Merci (thank you)

Food & drink

À la table

• Baguette: Long, thin loaf with a crackling crust and an airy crumb
• Bœuf bourguignon: Beef braised in Burgundy red wine with bacon, mushrooms and small onions
• Croissant: Crescent of buttery, flaky layered dough, eaten warm at breakfast
• Champagne: Sparkling wine from Champagne, made sparkling in the bottle
• Crème brûlée: Vanilla custard under a crust of burnt sugar
• Macaron: Almond meringue shells around a creamy filling

Festivals

Through the French year