5 Best Sights in France

A spectacular natural amphitheater, the Cirque de Gavarnie has been dubbed the "Colosseum of Nature" and inspired many writers, including Victor Hugo. At its foot is the village of Gavarnie, a good base for exploring the region's mountains. Thanks to glacial erosion, the Cirque is a Cinerama wall of peaks and a daunting challenge to mountaineers. Horses and donkeys, rented in the village, are the traditional way to reach the head of the valley (though walking is preferable). When the upper snows melt, numerous streams tumble down from the cliffs to form spectacular waterfalls; the greatest of them, the Grande Cascade, drops nearly 1,400 feet.

This large village, with its promenade running the length of the pebble beach, is renowned for the magnificent tall rock formations that extend out into the sea. The Falaises d'Étretat are white cliffs that are as famous in France as Dover's are in England—and have been painted by many artists, Claude Monet chief among them.

A stunning white-sand beach and white-chalk rocks, such as the "Manneporte"—a limestone portal likened by author Guy de Maupassant to an elephant dipping its trunk into water—are major elements in the composition. Here Monet became a pictorial rock climber with the help of his famous "slotted box," built with compartments for six different canvases, allowing him to switch midstream from painting to painting as weather patterns momentarily changed. With storms and sun alternating hour by the hour, you'll quickly understand why they say, "Just wait: in Normandy we have great weather several times a day!"—it was yet another reason why the Impressionists, intent on capturing the ephemeral, so loved this town.

At low tide it's possible to walk through the huge archways formed by the rocks to neighboring beaches. The biggest arch is at the Falaise d'Aval, to the south, and for a breathtaking view of the whole bay be sure to climb the easy path up to the top. From here you can hike for miles across the Manneporte Hills, or play a round of golf on one of Europe's windiest and most scenic courses, overlooking L'Aiguille (The Needle), a 300-foot spike of rock jutting out of the sea just offshore. To the north towers the Falaise d'Amont, topped by the gloriously picturesque chapel of Notre-Dame de la Garde.

The plunging chalk cliffs of Étretat are so gorgeous and strange that they seem surreal at first—the hordes of camera-toting visitors, however, can bring you back to reality quickly. So plan on heading for the cliffs in early morning or early evening.

You are here for one reason only: to explore the extraordinary Gorges du Verdon, also known as—with only slight exaggeration over another, more famous version—the Grand Canyon. Through the eons, the jewel-green torrent of the Verdon River has chiseled away the limestone plateau and gouged a spectacular gorge lined with steep white cliffs and sloping rock falls carpeted with green forest. The jagged bluffs, roaring water, and dense wild boxwood create a savage world of genuinely awe-inspiring beauty, whether viewed from dozens of cliff-top overlooks or explored from the wilderness below.

If you're driving from La Palud, follow the dramatic Route des Crêtes circuit (D23), a white-knuckle cliff-hanger not for the faint of heart. When you approach and leave La Palud, you'll do it via D952 between Castellane and Moustiers, with several breathtaking overlooks. The best of these is the Point Sublime, at the east end. Leave your car by the hotel-restaurant and walk to the edge, holding tight to dogs and children—that's a 2,834-foot drop to the bottom. You can also access the famous drive along D71, called the Route de la Corniche Sublime, from Moustiers. Top lookout points here are the Horserider's Cliff, the Balcon de la Mescla, and the Pont de l'Artuby bridge.

Several trails converge in this prime hiking territory. The most spectacular is the branch of the GR4 that follows the bed of the canyon itself, along the Sentier Martel. This dramatic trek, beginning at the Chalet de la Maline and ending at the Point Sublime, was created in the 1930s by the Touring-Club de France and named for one of the gorge's first explorers. Easier circuits leave from the Point Sublime on sentiers de découverte (trails with commentary) into the gorge known as Couloir Samson.

Literally, the "sea of ice," the Mer de Glace glacier can be seen up close from the Train du Montenvers, a cogwheel mountain train that leaves from behind the main train station. At the top end of the track, you can mount yet another transportation device—a mini téléphérique (cable car) that suspends you over the glacier for five minutes. You can also venture into the grotte de glace (ice cave) and the Glacorium, an interactive space recounting the glacier's formation and history. The hike back down is an easy two-hour ramble.

The tallest sand dune in Europe, the vast Dune du Pilat stretches 3 km (2 miles) and rises to create a 340-foot ridge of golden sand. From its northern beginnings, a near-unbroken sweep of spectacular, surf-pounded beaches and dunes stretches southward from Arcachon for some 140 km (90 miles) toward Biarritz.