Alpes-Midireturn

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"Alpes-Midi" is just one name but in fact it covers two regions. We say someone has a Midi accent when their words seem to sing and be full of sunshine. For people from the North, “le Midi” describes the whole of the South of France. The word "midi" also means “midday”, and time for lunch.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur is the name given to the region in the South-East made up of 6 départements. Holidaymakers know it for its beaches, its mountain scenery and its colourful markets fragrant with garlic and herbs. It is next door to Italy.

Nature and modernity go well together: a bit like Silicon Valley in the United States, Sophia Antipolis is a city which grew up among the pines to become a centre for high technology, the first of its kind in France: businesses, researchers and students from nearly sixty countries come together there to invent the future. Alongside the space satellites there is room for nature: regional parks provide special protection to plants and animals. So bears have returned to their lairs in the Pyrenees and wolves are back in the Alps.

The Alps are a mountain range in South-East France. The highest mountain in Europe is French: Mont Blanc (4,807 metres) is covered with snow all through the year.

Midi-Pyrénées

The Midi-Pyrénées region is the South-West of the country, covering 8 départements. Between it and its nearest neighbours, Spain and the Principality of Andorra, are the mountains of the Pyrenees. The regional capital is Toulouse , the city of Airbus and Concorde and a centre for aircraft and space engineering (the second most important space centre in the world after Los Angeles): here secret plans are made for planes and rockets of the future.

Toulouse is also the second biggest university town in France. The red bricks of its ancient buildings have earned it the charming nickname of “the rose-red city”, “la ville rose”.

The region is modern, but also rural and the home of traditional cooking: if you mention the départements of Gers, Ariège or Lot, a French person immediately thinks of foie gras, confit, cassoulet and many other good things to eat and places to visit.

Some people here speak occitan and play bowls, to win if they can, but above all to meet other people and discuss the next rugby match. To find out all about everyday life in the South-West, the best thing to do is to read the regional newspaper: "La Dépêche du Midi".

In the cool of the evening people get together in the town and village squares.

The regional sport is pétanque which is played by young and old alike.

This is an area where boys are born clutching a rugby ball in their cradle: a love of the game is passed on from father to son.