Why France
It is the world's leading tourist destination, and it is also the country the French drive through without stopping. The density here is particular: the food, the architecture and the landscape change every two hundred kilometres, which is rare at that scale.
The country has four seaboards — the Channel, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the mountains that form its borders — and a mesh of medium-sized cities linked to each other by rail. It is that mesh, more than Paris, that makes the territory interesting.
Getting around
The TGV puts most large cities within three hours of Paris, and prices collapse when you book early. The discount cards pay for themselves from the second return trip.
The regional network serves the territory finely, but you have to accept connections. Ride-sharing is a means of transport in its own right between medium-sized cities, often quicker and cheaper than the regional train. A car remains necessary for the countryside, where the last bus sometimes leaves at five in the afternoon.
Money
Everything is paid by card, including small amounts, and contactless is universal. Cash is still used at markets and in a few rural businesses.
Service is included by law: tipping is optional and symbolic, a few euros for a good meal. Tap water — a carafe of water — is free and compulsory in any establishment that serves meals, and asking for it is entirely proper.
Before you go
The country stops in August. Independent businesses, restaurants and part of the services close for two to four weeks, above all in the cities; it is when the French leave, not when they play host.
On Sunday, almost everything is closed outside designated tourist zones, and Monday often is too for museums and food shops. A short stay is planned around those two days rather than against them.
Transport strikes are part of the social landscape and are announced in advance: the notice is public, and a train journey is checked the day before rather than the same morning.