Ride on the speedy TGV trains or glide by on the Canal du Midi.

The Loire River divides France geographically and psychologically into the calmer, cooler north – home to the Ile-de-France (Greater Paris), Normandy, Brittany and Picardy regions – and more passionate, sunny south (think Provence, Languedoc and the Cote d'Azur regions).

Of the 22 regions many are still little known to tourists – like Swiss-influenced Franche-Comté in the east and Poitou-Charentes in the west, home to Cognac grapes and peaceful seaside town La Rochelle.

Take the speedy and efficient SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer) trains between cities. Ultra-fast trains (TGV – trains à grande vitesse) run from Paris south (to Marseille and the Mediterranean) and west to Tours and Bordeaux. You have to pre-book your seat on TGV trains.

Drive on the right. For speed, take the autoroutes (toll-paying motorways) or routes nationals (main roads). For views and a trip back in time, meander the rural routes departementales. In August, roads get busier with holidaying French heading south.

Ferries run to France's coastal islands, just off Brittany and the Côte d'Azur – the service linking Cannes to the Ile Saint-Honorat is run by monks.

New and improved cycling routes keep popping up – including a green route hugging the Loire for miles or lining the St Martin canal in Paris. The cycling route along the flat-as-a-pancake Camargue plain suits office legs.

Watch France float by from its 7000km of navigable rivers and canals. The 360km-long Canal du Midi linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The minimum driving age is 18 years. Nids de Poule (literally meaning chickens' nests) is French for potholes.

"French Autoroute website"

Catch a concert at Nîme's Roman amphitheatre, see Renaissance towers peer above Lyon's cityscape and head for the future at Futuroscope theme park.