Goals
What you'll be able to do- 📊 Read holiday statistics
- 🇫🇷 Discover where the French go on holiday
- 🏛️ Get to know the main pieces of French cultural heritage
- 📝 Express your travel preferences
- 🌍 Compare France and your home country
Survey — The French on holiday
Survey resultsAccording to a survey by BVA / Ministry of Tourism (2007), where do the French go on holiday, and with whom? Here are the results.
① Where do they go? Destination type
② Which country? France or abroad?
③ Where do they sleep? Type of accommodation
④ When do they go? Time of year
⑤ Why do they go? Main reason
⑥ Who with? Travelling companions
📚 Source: BVA survey for the French Ministry of Tourism, May 2007. Multiple answers were possible, so totals sometimes exceed 100%.
💡 Notes
- Un sondage / une enquête "survey, poll" — a statistical study of opinions or behaviour.
- BVA, IFOP, Ipsos, Harris Interactive = the big French polling institutes.
- Pourcentage "percentage" — to read it: "cinquante-trois pour cent" (53%).
- Une résidence secondaire "second home / holiday home" — owned property used for holidays (vs. main residence). Very common in France.
- "principalement" "mainly, primarily" — useful adverb for reporting survey results.
- 📌 Cultural context — French paid leave: by law, French employees get 5 weeks of paid vacation per year (not counting public holidays). Most take 3–4 weeks in summer (called les grandes vacances) and many businesses, especially small shops, simply close in August — the famous fermeture annuelle (annual closure). For visitors, this can be a surprise: arrive in Paris on August 15th and half the bakeries are shut!
Vocabulary
Words to remember| French | Type | English |
|---|---|---|
| août | n.m. | August |
| un chiffre | n.m. | figure, number, digit |
| un couple | n.m. | couple (married or together) |
| culturel(le) | adj. | cultural |
| en | prep. | in (location, state) |
| mai | n.m. | May |
| un ministère | n.m. | (government) ministry |
| la montagne | n.f. | mountain(s) |
| organisé(e) | adj. | organised |
| plusieurs | indef. | several |
| un point de vue | n.m. | point of view, opinion |
| un pourcentage | n.m. | percentage |
| pratique | adj. | practical, handy |
| principalement | adv. | mainly, primarily |
| rencontrer | v. | to meet |
| une réponse | n.f. | answer, reply |
| une résidence | n.f. | residence; (residential) building |
| un résultat | n.m. | result |
| retrouver | v. | to find again, to meet up with |
| secondaire | adj. | secondary |
| sportif / sportive | adj. | sporty, sport-related |
| tranquille | adj. | quiet, peaceful |
| voir | v. | to see |
Opinion piece
A tongue-in-cheek take📰 "Holidays, yes… but quiet ones!"
by Michel Kling
« Vous aimez être tranquille en vacances ? Alors, ne partez pas en juillet ou en août. Ne partez pas à la montagne, il n'y a pas trop de monde. En fait, les Français partent principalement pendant ces deux mois de l'année, fin juillet et début août. Tout le monde part au même moment, pour aller à la mer : c'est comme ça ! Ils détestent la campagne, la trouvent ennuyeuse.
Autre conseil : dormez à l'hôtel. Les Français dorment en général dans les campings… Ils trouvent ça pratique et pas cher. Et à l'étranger ? Vous ne voulez pas rencontrer trop de Français ? Là, pas de problème : beaucoup d'entre eux restent en France pour leurs vacances. »
👀 This article is a bit tongue-in-cheek: it says the opposite of what's true, to make the reader think. English readers: spot the irony — "go to the mountains, there aren't too many people" actually means "if you want a quiet holiday, do go to the mountains".
Cultural snapshot
Famous French heritage🏛️ French heritage — the famous sites Must-sees of France
France has more than 40 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list — one of the richest countries in the world in this respect.
🗼 Paris monuments
La Tour Eiffel
324 m, built in 1889. The symbol of Paris.
The Eiffel TowerLe Louvre
Former royal palace, world's largest museum. Home to the Mona Lisa (da Vinci) and the Venus de Milo.
The LouvreNotre-Dame de Paris
12th-century gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité.
Notre-Dame CathedralL'Opéra de Paris
The Palais Garnier, a 19th-century masterpiece.
The Paris OperaLa place de la Concorde
The largest square in Paris, with the Luxor obelisk.
Place de la ConcordeLes Champs-Élysées
"The most beautiful avenue in the world", running up to the Arc de Triomphe.
The Champs-Élysées🏰 Castles & cities
Château de Versailles
Residence of the Sun King (Louis XIV), 17th century. The Hall of Mirrors.
Palace of VersaillesLa vallée de la Loire
"The garden of France". Over 300 châteaux: Chambord, Chenonceau…
The Loire ValleyLe Mont-Saint-Michel
Abbey on a rocky islet in Normandy. Spectacular tides.
Mont-Saint-MichelLa Côte d'Azur
From Nice to Saint-Tropez — the legendary Mediterranean Riviera.
The French Riviera⛪ Regions & cities
Strasbourg Cathedral
Flamboyant gothic, in Alsace. The tallest building of the Middle Ages.
Cathédrale de StrasbourgLe Pont d'Avignon
Famous medieval bridge over the Rhône — the song Sur le pont d'Avignon.
Avignon BridgeLe Vieux-Port de Marseille
Mediterranean port for 26 centuries. Try the bouillabaisse!
The Old Port of MarseilleMonet's house at Giverny
The impressionist painter's home. The famous water-lily pond.
Giverny (Monet's garden)💡 Bon voyage ! "Have a good trip!" — said before someone leaves on a journey. Don't confuse with "Bon courage" ("good luck / hang in there" — for someone facing a difficult task, not for travel!).
Practice
Try it outExercise 1 · True or false?
According to the BVA survey above.
| Statement | True | False |
|---|---|---|
| 53% of French people go to the seaside. | ||
| The majority of French people go abroad. | ||
| 80% of French people go away in July or August. | ||
| The main reason for going on holiday is the sun. | ||
| 11% of French people sleep in hotels. | ||
| Only 12% of French people go on holiday alone. |
Exercise 2 · What was the question?
For each survey result, find the matching question.
- Result: "53% à la mer, 34% à la campagne, 20% à la montagne, 19% en ville"
Question: - Result: "80% en juillet ou août"
Question: - Result: "36% pour retrouver leur famille, 20% pour le soleil…"
Question: - Result: "37% en famille, 24% à deux, 12% seul"
Question:
Exercise 3 · French heritage
Match each landmark to its city / region.
- The Eiffel Tower →
- Mont-Saint-Michel →
- Strasbourg Cathedral →
- The Pont d'Avignon →
- The Vieux-Port →
- Monet's house →
Exercise 4 · Percentages
Fill in with the right survey percentage.
- According to the survey, % of French people spend their holidays in France.
- Only % go abroad.
- More than half — % — go to the seaside.
- For %, the main reason to leave is to see family.
- Hotels are chosen by only % of French holidaymakers.
Communicate
Real-world tasks🎭 And you?
With your partner, answer the survey questions about your own holiday habits. Justify your answers.
- Where do you usually go? (sea / mountains / countryside / city)
- In your country, or abroad?
- When? (summer / winter / spring…)
- With whom? (family / friends / alone / as a couple…)
- What's your main reason?
- Where do you sleep? (hotel / family / camping…)
🌍 And in your country?
Run a mini-survey in class (or with your family): where do people go on holiday in your country? Prepare 5 questions, ask 5 people, and present the results in percentages.
Example: "Out of 5 people surveyed, 3 prefer the seaside (60%) and 2 prefer the mountains (40%)."
📝 Riddles
Read these portraits written by other students and guess which monument is described. Then write your own!
- "Je suis très haute. Je suis à Paris. Tout le monde veut me voir. Je m'illumine la nuit." →
- "Je suis sur un îlot. La mer monte autour de moi. Je suis en Normandie." →
- "Je suis un grand musée. J'étais autrefois un palais royal. La Joconde habite chez moi." →