MONTREAL — France is at the top of the list of the most popular destinations in the world – with 80 million expected visitors this year – plus it’s the host country for the next Summer Olympic Games.
Even with so much going on, France continues to find ways to diversify the promotion of its regions, and new ways of seeing the country.
A small group of representatives from three French regions (Normandy, Southern Alps and Occitanie) plus several suppliers (CroisiEurope, ACV, Air Canada) took part in Atout France’s ‘ExploreFrance: smart travel’ events in Montreal and Toronto this week. Profession Voyages was there too.
Hosted by Mélanie Paul-Hus, director of Atout France in Canada, and the Atout France team, the get-together centred on the ‘smart travel’ theme, with discussion about how to travel sustainably while exploring France.
For the record – and to lead by example – the new French consul stationed at Montreal, Marie Lapierre, travelled to the Montreal event by electric bike, despite chilly temperatures to say the least.
PARIS AGAIN AND AGAIN
With the countdown to the 2024 Summer Olympics heading into the home stretch, the event’s Paris focus also including some new features in the French capital.
Besides the extremely popular Maison Gainsbourg, celebrating France’s cultural icon Serge Gainsbourg, the Aura Invalides immersive experience is getting a lot of interest, and with good reason.
This splendid production by Moment Factory (a Montreal-based company) magnifies the spectacular interior space of the Dôme des Invalides, a masterpiece architectural site and home to the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Moreover, the National Maritime Museum will reopen its doors on Nov.17 with “a reinvented journey between discovery of masterpieces and diving into the sea and its challenges.”
Finally, about an hour from Paris, the Château de Villers-Cotterêts now houses the International City of the French language, a “cultural and living place entirely dedicated to the French language and French-speaking cultures.”
BACK TO NORMANDY
Beyond Paris, Valérie Joannon, Project Manager at the Normandy CRT, spotlighted attractions, new developments and upcoming events in the region.
In 2024, two major events are worthy of note. First of all, the 80th anniversary of the Landings and the Battle of Normandy will mark an important step with the transition from memory tourism to history tourism.
And beyond the commemoration of the landing of June 6, the region will highlight the entire Battle of Normandy, until the liberation of Paris and Europe. It’s a commemoration with deep resonance in these troubled times when war is still raging at the gates of Europe.
The commemorations begin on March 1, 2024 and last until October, and will give rise to a particularly anticipated event: a show of 2,500 drones presented on the landing beaches on May 31 at nightfall.
With 94 memorial sites and places to visit, 44 museums, 21 memorials and natural sites and 29 cemeteries, memory tourism remains the primary motivation for visits in Normandy.
Also on the calendar: Impressionism will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2024, highlighting the first exhibition of this artistic movement in Paris, on April 15, 1874. As Normandy is known as the birthplace of Impressionism, the region will celebrate the cultural legacy left by painters with 200+ events, including the fifth edition of the Normandy Impressionist Festival.
In 2024 and beyond, visitors can walk and recharge their batteries in the footsteps of Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Bonnard, Millet and Sisley, in evocative urban landscapes or in the wilderness, and also in museums or in the gardens they frequented, and the workshop houses where they created.
SOUTHERN ALPS: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS
In addition to France’s perennial top draws including Chamonix, Val d’Isère and certainly the Trois-Vallées, further south there are more ski resorts worthy of mention.
To prove it, Isabelle Nicolas, promotion manager, came to talk about Serre Chevalier, which will be the first ski resort to produce its own electricity thanks to a hybrid combination hydroelectricity, photovoltaic panels and wind turbines.
Lower in altitude but sunnier than its northern neighbours, the Alps of South often plays the card of ‘the best of both worlds’ – the mountains and the sea – as is the case of Valberg station, in the Alps-Maritimes, less than two hours from Nice.
The region has no fewer than 65 ski resorts, several of which offer four-season tourism with a host of summer activities, from mountain biking to hiking, climbing and canyoning.
In the meantime, the upcoming winter season looks promising with 6% more advance reservations compared to last year, particularly for the Christmas holidays.
Easily accessible from Quebec thanks to two entry points (Marseille and Nice) the region is well served by Air Canada and Air Transat, as well as daily and all year round by Air France, via Paris.
OCCITANIE: BETWEEN SEA, MOUNTAINS & MUSIC
As the second-largest region in France, and the fourth-largest tourist region in the country, Occitanie leans against the Pyrenees, runs along the Mediterranean and extends from Cahors to Nîmes towards the east and to Perpignan, in the south.
It has nine World Heritage sites (including the Pont du Gard, the roads to Compostela and Carcassonne) and a flagship city, Toulouse, known as ‘the Pink City’.
Marine Esch, press relations manager at Toulouse Métropole, highlighted all the latest news during the Atout France event, in particular Toulouse’s recent designation as a UNESCO City of Music.
In a similar vein, and also in the Occitanie region, Maison carrée in Nîmes has also received the seal of UNESCO, with inclusion on the Heritage List. Built in the 1st century AD, the Maison carrée is one of the first examples of Roman temples associated with imperial worship in the provinces of Rome.
The Atout France event also highlighted the Occitanie Rail Tour, with access to 19 railway lines and some 100 stopover stations.
For more information on all of these regions and more see https://www.france.fr/en.
