Dans comments:

Looking forward to the food and wine, less so to the hills and sanitation.

Country profile: (further details available on the BBC website)

A key player on the world stage and a country at the political heart of Europe, France sent shockwaves through European Union capitals when President Chirac conceded that voters had rejected the proposed EU constitution in a referendum in May 2005.

As Europe sought to rebuild after the devastation of World War II, France was one of the founding fathers of European integration.