A few things some might not know about France:
1. The intercity freeways are nearly all tolls. Speed limit is 130 kph. They have rest stops called aires every few miles.
2. They have an amazing number of types of mustard.
3. The different regions are at least as different as they are in the US. In Alsace and Brittany they still speak local languages somewhat.
4. There is a WW One/Two memorial in every town and city listing names of those fallen.
5. We heavily bombed a number of cities in France in WW 2, Rennes, Orlean, Caen, Rouen, among a few others. Himmler had the Panier district of Marseille dynamited in 1943.
6. They have strict zoning for the most part and little urban sprawl and few strip malls.
7. Their main wines are very parallel to ours for the most part except zinfandel, which they don't have. We can thank Jefferson in part for that.
8. Smaller cities tend to have trams for intracity transport. The lanes are VERY narrow in general. Parking, fuggit about it.
9. You can get a decent hotel outside Paris for around $100 or so a night. Paris is tres cher.
10. The drivers are pretty good overall, they have quite strict driving tests. They can be a bit aggressive in traffic, but about like in NYC. You better make up your mind and do it quickly.
11. The larger traffic circles have no lane markings, at all. They can be entertaining. Or not. I once had my verbal GPS say "Take the seventh exit at the roundabout.".
12. The young folks smoke a LOT. Way more than here.
