A television ad shown as part of a British campaign a few years back perhaps says it all. A succession of beautiful images, swaying cornfields, woods, meadows, mountains, vineyards, beaches and pretty fishing villages with at first no soundtrack; then, low but gaining steadily in volume, the sound of a football chant, a yobs' chorus: "'Ere we don't go, 'ere we don't go, 'ere we don't go. . ."
Sun, sea, sex and sand, all-night discos and competitive cocktail-drinking may well have their place; but that place is not France. The country is different and wishes to remain different. Not that it is not serious about tourism. You only have to look around in central Paris to see the enormous value of the tourist dollar, while in more far-flung rural areas a determined effort is being made to improve the infrastructure and create more attractions and activities to balance the decline in agricultural revenues.
Last year between 150,000 and 170,000 Irish holidaymakers visited France and about another 30,000 business travellers, an increase of about a third on the previous year. The single most important destination is still Paris, which about 40,000 Irish people visited last year, most on a short weekend "city break".
"Paris is still the city of romance," says Agnes Depigny of the French Government Tourist Office in Suffolk Street, Dublin, and enormously popular as a short break destination, particularly for couples. For families, however, Brittany is the most favoured region, close at hand, well served by ferries from Rosslare and Cork and with abundant beaches and attractive fishing villages and camping sites.
It is also a destination in which many Irish people feel particularly at home given the shared cultural heritage - a major attraction this year is the Inter-Celtic Festival in Lorient, running from August 4th to 13th, which is billed as the biggest forum for the contemporary arts of Celtic lands.
Many Irish people also venture further down the Atlantic coast, to the resort of La Baule, the beautiful historic port city of La Rochelle and on into Aquitaine and the endless sandy beaches which stretch from Arcachon to the Spanish border. If western France is the premier destination for family holidays, with an abundance of good campsites, beaches, sports and water facilities, there is an unlimited range of other possibilities just off the beaten track for more independent travellers, particularly those who have come in search of their own personal communion with the great French obsession, la cuisine.
Obvious attractions are France's two greatest wine-growing areas - Bordeaux and the surrounding areas and Bourgogne (Burgundy), where you can expect the fare to be splendid, but often, unfortunately, priced to match. French gastronomie is a specialised, labour-intensive luxury product and there is no shortage of people willing to pay the prices it commands (£30 upwards for dinner, anything you like or can afford for wine).
France, however, and it cannot be stressed strongly enough, is not an expensive country, either for food or accommodation. If you choose to sit down and order a Coke and a sandwich at a pavement cafe on the Champs Elysees you must expect what you will undoubtedly get in terms of overpricing, but in the much more atmospheric eastern quarters of the city you can have a perfectly good meal with wine for not much more than £10.
In the provinces, too, outside the most obvious heavily touristed areas, value and quality are on offer everywhere hand-in-hand. Particularly worth visiting is the south-west, that huge swathe of largely unvisited country from the Atlantic coast round to the foothills of the Massif Central and the Cevennes in the east, encompassing the regions of Aquitaine, MidiPyrenees, Auvergne and Languedoc-Roussillon.
The Bearn region in the lower Pyrenees could well be the big eaters' capital of the world. Here the patronne will place a bucket-sized container of the delicious local vegetable soup, garbure, in front of you to serve yourself and tut somewhat reproachfully when she takes it back still half-full.
Getting to France is easier than ever, with regular flights from Aer Lingus, Air France and Ryanair and ferries from Cork and Rosslare. The French Government Tourist Office is at (01) 6790813. Try also the excellent Maison de France website: www.franceguide.com
Remember, France is a large and extremely varied country, and there can often be something quite fascinating and unexpected down that side road or on the other side of that hill. The France that appeals to you most, your France, may well be the one you discover yourself.
Fairs & festivals
Avignon Festival: Drama, dance, music, July 5th - 30th
International Folklore Festival: Plozevet, Brittany, July 12th - 16th
World Bridge Festival: Deauville, July 12th - 23rd
Tour de France finish: Paris, July 23rd
Madonna of the Bikers festival: Porcaro, Brittany, August 15th
World Puppet Theatre Festival: Charleville-Mezieres, September 15th - 24th
Newspaper Cartoonists' Festival: Rouen, September 30th - October 10th
World Motor Show: Paris, September 30th - October 15th
Arc de Triomphe race: Paris, October 1st
International Modern Art Fair: Paris, October 24th - 30th
