France

France (France in French) is 67 million people country in the western part of Europe. It belongs to the European Union (EU) and French mainland is surrounded by Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, Andorra, Monaco and Italy. The population has a mostly Catholic Christian tradition, the official language is French (other regional languages such as German dialects, Breton, Corsican, Catalan, Basque or Occitan are also spoken in their regions but they aren't official). The official currency of France is the euro (€). France is one of the most touristic places in Europe and in the world, with 44 sites placed in UNESCO World Heritage list. The main city, and the capital city, of France is Paris, with other important cities like Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse or Nice.

What can I visit in France?

France is quite big so it'll be divided the touristic places among regions. Check them out and find out the ones you want to visit.

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
• Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
• Brittany
• Centre-Val de Loire
• French Guiana
• Grand East
• Guadalupe
• Hauts-de-France
• Île-de-France
• Martinique
• Mayotte
• Normandy
• Nouvelle-Aquitaine
• Occitanie
• Pays de la Loire
• Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
• Réunion

France has also other territories outside mainland in Europe, usually refered as territorial collectivity, that are the following ones.

• French Polynesia
• New Caledonia
• Saint Barthélemy
• Saint Martin
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• Wallis and Futuna

History

The first inhabitants

Unforgettable experiences 

This places and experiences are a must if you want to discover and understand France

Planning your holidays

These are some possible journeys you may do in Lithuania so visit parts of it or discover it all.

What can I eat and drink in France?

Lithuanian food has Polish and Ashkenazi influences and their meals are usually based in barley, potatoes, mushrooms, rye and beets. Cepelinai (potato dumpling stuffed with meat, cheese or mushrooms) is the national dish and is usually used as starter. There are other varieties like kukuliai (similar to gnocchi), koldūnai, virtiniai or auselės. One of the most common dishes in Lithuanian cuisine are soups, with many kinds like cabbage soup, cucumber soup, sauerkraut soup, lapienė (greens in a cramy broth), barščiai (hot beet soup), šaltibarščiai (cold beet soup) and the popular vištienos sultinys (chicken broth). Lithuania is also rich in blynai (mixture between pancakes and crêpes), with some examples like kėdainių blynai, žemaičių blynai and lietiniai. Talking about regional food in Lithuania, the regions with more food personality are Dzūkija and Samogitia. In the former some traditional dishes are juka (blood soup), kugel (potato pudding with an Ashkenazi origin) and buckwheat pancakes. In Samogitia region it's typical the kastinys (sour cream forming a soft spread). Another ethnic minory like the Karaites have their own dishes like kibinai (pastry with mutton and onion). The most common bread is ruginė duona (rye bread).

Some other typical dishes are the Lithuanian šaltnosiukai (dumplings filled with lingonberries), įdaryti kiaušiniai (similar to deviled eggs), įdaryti pomidorai (tomatoes filled with savory stuffing) and Lithuanian curd cheese. Some of the dishes with meat are lašiniai (pork underskin fat with little or no meat), vėdarai (pig large intestine with potato), šiupinys (stew made from variety of ingredients), balandėliai (cabbage leaves stuffed with meat), dešra (typical Lithuanian sausages), skilandis or kindziukas (pig stomach stuffed with meat and garlic and cold-smoked), suktiniai (beef or pork very thin, filled, rolled up and braised), kotletai or frikadėlės (minced meat and/or onion patties) and šaltiena or košeliena (aspic or meat jelly)
In desserts the most popular one are Lithuanian-style cakes (pyragas) but others are žagarėliai (deep-fried pastries with sugar), kūčiukai or šližikai (tradicional Christmas dinner roll), ledai (ice cream), spurgos (Lithuanian donut), šakotis (Lithuanian baumkuchen), tinginys (Kaunas typical dessert), manų putra/košė (semolina wheat pudding) and skruzdėlynas (pastries stacked on top of one another).


Talking about drinking, the most famous Lithuanian drink is the beer (alus) throughout all the country, usually drank with piršteliai prie alaus (puff pastries served with beer), yet not the oldest one, having midus (mead) that honour. As in many other northern countries, there are many other kind of stronger spirits like trauktinė (strong herbal vodka), degtinė (rye, wheat or potato vodka) or krupnikas (honey liqueur). There are other non alcoholic drinks like gira (similar to kvass), arbata (tea) or kava (coffee). 

Learn some French

  French is the co-oficial language of Galicia, together with Spanish, and is currently spoken by 2.4 million people aprox. Galician language is quite similar to Portugues and to Spanish, so visitors who speak any of those languages won't have problems of communication. Moreover Galician very widely spoken and understood all over Galicia, with more importance in rural areas rather than in cities, where Spanish is stronger. These are some basic words in French: 

French	English	French	English
Bonjour	Hello	S'il vous plaît	Please
Bonsoir	Good evening	Merci	Thanks
Comment ça va?	How are you?	Oui	Yes
Au revoir!	Goodbye!	Non	No
Bonne nuit!	Good night	Je ne parle pas français	I don’t speak French

Useful links

 In case you want to look for more information about France (http://ee.france.fr/) or its regions, here there's a list with some pages to get it:

• Brittany ().
  
• Centre-Val de Loire ().
• Corsica ().
• .