Paris
According to abbreviationfinder, Paris is the capital and largest city of France, located on both sides of the Seine below the mouth of the Marne, 2.2 million residents (2016) (11.4 million residents in the metropolitan area).
Paris is a cosmopolitan city and the seat of international organizations (including UNESCO, OECD). In addition to the Institut de France (with the Académie française) and the famous Sorbonne has other universities, many important museums (including the Louvre), libraries and theaters.
Paris is the center of haute couture (trend-setting fashion houses), the most important trading city and the most important industrial and banking center in France; it is also one of the most important city trip destinations in Europe. Paris has three international airports and is the hub of the French motorway and rail network. The metro is of paramount importance for urban local transport.
Attractions
The inner city area is enclosed by the ring of outer boulevards to which the suburbs (Faubourgs) connect. There are numerous famous buildings including the Notre-Dame Cathedral (1163–1st half of the 13th century), the Sainte-Chapelle (1246–48), the Invalides (1680–1712) with the tomb of Napoleon I, theLouvre, the triumphal arch (Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile; completed in 1836, with the tomb of the unknown soldier since 1920), the Panthéon, the Eiffel Tower and the Center Georges Pompidou (a cultural center) opened in 1977. The entertainment and artistic districts are Montmartre and Montparnasse, the intellectual center of Paris is the Latin Quarter.
History
As a Gallic settlement of Lutetia, Paris was first mentioned by Caesar. In 508, the Merovingian king Clovis I raised the settlement, which was limited to the Seine island Île de la Cité, to the capital of the Frankish Empire. In the 11th and 12th centuries, settlements arose on the right (market and castle) and left (university district) banks of the Seine. Paris became the main residence of the French kings. In the 17th / 18th In the 19th century the city was the cultural center of Europe, then the starting point of the French Revolution. To this day, like no other European capital, Paris is where the country’s political, cultural and economic activities are concentrated.
French wines
French wines, the wines of one of the oldest and most renowned wine-growing countries in the world; with a vineyard area of 804,000 hectares (2016).
This puts France in third place (after Spain and Italy) among the wine-growing countries, and in terms of wine production of around 43 million hl / year, it holds a top position together with Spain and Italy. With 14 million hectoliters, France is the third largest wine exporter after Spain and Italy, but also imports an average of 7.4 million hectoliters, making it third among the importing countries. With its per capita consumption of almost 46 l / year, France ranks second in the world behind Luxembourg. There are a total of 85,000 (2016) wineries in France, one third of which are based in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The various quality wine categories account for 48% of the total production volume, 34% on country wine and wines without designation of origin (formerly table wine) and a good 18% go to distillation (cognac, etc.). The denominations of origin of the Appellation contrôlée, abbreviation A.C., alone cover around 60% (447,000 ha). In this category, the ratio of white wines to rosés and reds is around 1: 2. France’s viticulture benefits from an enormous range of different climatic conditions. The north of the country falls under Zone B of the European wine-growing zones, the center is under C I and the south under climatic zone C II.
France is home to some of the most renowned European noble grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot noir. In addition, each region has its own range of native grape varieties. However, in contrast to countries such as Italy or Portugal, the systematic selection of vines in France for centuries has resulted in only a dozen varieties occupying almost three quarters of the vineyards. The French range of varieties is led by Merlot (114 600 ha, 2015), followed by Grenache (85 400 ha), Trebbiano alias Ugni blanc (84 500 ha), Carignan (37 400 ha), Cabernet Sauvignon (49 800 ha), Syrah (84,500 ha), Chardonnay (48,900 ha), Cabernet franc (33,800 ha), Gamay (26,500 ha), Pinot noir (32,200 ha), Sauvignon Blanc (30,000 ha) and Cinsaut (19,200 ha).
France is divided into ten wine-growing regions, of which only the Bordelais (Bordeaux wines) and Alsace correspond to the political structure. From the north and clockwise as seen it is the Champagne with their sparkling wine, the Champagne, Alsace (Alsatian wine), Burgundy (Burgundy, Beaujolais), Jura and Savoie, the Rhone Valley (Rhôneweine), the Provence and Corsica, the Languedoc-Roussillon, the southwest, the Bordelais and the Loire Valley (Loire wines). Between these regions lie the Lyonnais in the south-east, the center and the Poitou-Charente region in the west of France. The largest wine-growing region in terms of area is Languedoc-Roussillon with 245,000 hectares (2016) of vines, followed by Bordelais with 117,500 hectares. The smallest regions are Jura (1,814 hectares) and Savoy (5771 hectares) and Alsace with around 15 600 hectares. In addition there is the cognac. Except in Alsace, Charente and the lower Loire, red wine grapes dominate.
