France

France...

The word alone conjures images of elegant chateaux, their gilded details shining brighter when bathed in sunset; refined restaurants serving world-class food and wine to a classy clientele sitting at little tables by the sides of cobbled streets; well-dressed gentlemen walking out of rustic boulangeries, a fragrant baguette under their arm.

And in the background the sound of an accordion for good measure.

France is all of that (minus perhaps the accordion), and more, a lot more. The third largest European country after Russia and Ukraine, it is almost impossible to bottle it all in a short description.

From the rugged Atlantic coastline peppered by old proud lighthouses to the mellow umbrella-studded beaches of the French Riviera, from the half-timber villages of Alsace and Lorraine to the Art Nouveau cafes of Paris, from the tallest mountains to the largest sand dunes in Europe, France really has it all.

I have been to France a few times, but I intend to go back again and again. A lifetime is probably not enough to conquer this merveille of a country, but I am willing to try.