This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral.

View the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Work began in 1163 on a spot that had been a holy shrine since Roman times. Over the centuries, the cathedral has been the scene of some of France's most momentous occasions, including the coronation of Napoleon.

What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence and the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded) and the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater).

Step into the dazzling world of Monaco, a tiny country bursting with luxury, history, and sunshine on the French Riviera. Learn how this unique principality became a playground for royalty and movie stars alike. Journey to the hilltop village of Èze to visit a traditional perfumery and discover how expert perfumers have blended scents since the 1700s.

The Côte d'Azur's largest city spills down the hillsides to pebble beaches that line the shore. Your Tour Director will show you around the narrow pedestrian streets and tiny squares of "Le Vieux Nice" (Old Town), which is sprinkled with old palaces and mansions. Stroll down the Promenade des Anglais, which runs parallel to the water. Backed by Nice's grand hotels, the Promenade was built in the 19th century for the British who flocked here en masse.

Stroll The Promenade des Anglais, named for the English who paid for it, is a seven kilometer walkway along the seafront. Called "La Prom" by locals, it's the best place to people-watch.

Lush lavender fields, olive groves, terra-cotta roofs, and ochre walls lit by golden sunlight...Your Tour Director will guide you through the splendor that is Provence. Explore legacies of the Roman Empire like the Pont du Gard aqueduct, a sophisticated work of engineering that is intact after more than 2,000 years, and visit the Nîmes amphitheater. Built by the Romans, it was once the site of gory gladiator and animal combat, and is still used today for performances and bullfights (some things never change). See the medieval ruins of Baux-de-Provence, a fortress sitting in the Alpilles mountains that was once used to protect the three bordering villages.

A true masterpiece of ancient architecture, the Pont du Gard aqueduct is one of the most beautiful Roman constructions in the region. Discover more about this startling monument as you follow the course of its history through the ages.

Feel the power of ancient Rome at Arènes de Nîmes, one of the best-preserved amphitheaters in the world. Climb its stone steps, explore grand corridors, and imagine the thunder of 24,000 voices echoing through this timeless arena.

Explore the medieval ruins of Les Baux-de-Provence, a hilltop fortress nestled in the Alpilles mountains that once guarded the surrounding valleys and nearby villages.

The turrets and ramparts of this medieval citadel look as if they were drawn by a story book illustrator. The oldest sections of the wall were built by the Romans in the 1st century, but most of Carcassonne's current character is from the 13th century. From the battlements you can see over green plains and hills all the way to the Pyrenées. Follow your Tour Director on an interactive adventure through this preserved city that will bring the portcullis and drawbridge, restored houses and watchtowers to life!

Travel to Bordeaux, the city that is synonymous with the wine trade, by way of Toulouse. Nicknamed "the pink city" because of its brick buildings, Toulouse has a quiet Mediterranean feel, and often seems more Spanish than French.

After two decades of renovation, Bordeaux now stands firm as one of the most elegant and dynamic destinations in Europe: a thriving cultural hub, capital of the famous wine region. Take a walking tour along the neo-classical waterfront and the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Discover the storybook village of St. Emilion as you stroll through cobblestone streets and learn about the region’s famous grapes. Hike up the incredible Dune du Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe, for amazing views of the ocean and forests.

Aboard a traditional flat rowing boat, take a guided tour through the Green Venice of Western France. As your expert boatmen guide you through the lush and wild marshlands, they will share their knowledge of the scenery unfolding and the traditional "cabanes" houses on the river's edge.

France’s aristocrats began building defensive castles in the Loire Valley in the 11th century. A few hundred years later, their descendants created pleasure palaces among the lush green forests and wandering waterways. Today, sumptuous Renaissance castles stud the banks of the silvery Loire River, the longest in France. First stop: Azay-le-Rideau. This castle’s limestone turrets and slate spires are set on an island in the middle of the Indre River. Almost completely surrounded by water, the castle mixes Gothic and Renaissance styles to fairy-tale effect. But few castles can compete with Château de Chenonceau. Built on a series of arches over the Cher River, Chenonceau was designed by a woman in the 16th century. It was once inhabited by Catherine de Medicis, who commissioned the delicate spirals and the formal gardens, and had the bridge covered by a two-story stone gallery.

Dug by men from the XIIth century onwards to extract the stone, “the tuffeau” destined for building, The Cave aux Moines was used as far back as the beginning of the XXth century to cultivate mushrooms. The beginning of the cave and the first metres of the galleries were used by people to live; that kind of living was called the "troglodytes". Here people and animals lived as a community.

For centuries, this walled seaport on the English Channel was known as the city of pirates. The pirates are gone, but the granite town remains, always seeming to be reaching towards the green-blue sea. With your Tour Director, embark on an interactive adventure that will bring St. Malo to life! Including a visit to the Cathedral St. Vincent, begun in the 11th century but not finished until the spire was mounted in 1987. It houses the tomb of Jacques Cartier, who discovered the St. Lawrence River and founded Quebec.

Perched high on a tidal island at the mouth of the Couesnon River, the Mont St-Michel Monastery rises impressively from behind the fortified walls of an old fort. Explore the narrow streets and old buildings before climbing to the center of the island to see the church itself.

See the D-Day beaches where on June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied troops landed in an effort to recapture the coast from Germany. All along the beaches, deserted German bunkers have been turned into memorials and the stark white crosses and stars that mark the cemeteries are grim reminders of the war.

Ingenious military engineering allowed the Allied forces to land at Arromanches on D-Day. Barges towed 600,000 tons of concrete across the English Channel, sinking them to create an artificial harbor, and then 33 jetties and 10 miles of floating roadways allowed the troops to land in France. Learn about this feat and other at the Arromanches Museum, where dioramas, interactive displays, and models detail the Allied landing.

The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a Medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world--one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.