France

I have been to France many times. After Spain and the United Kingdom, it is probably the country I know best.

My relationship with France is a little like the one you might have with a more handsome, more intelligent brother: you resent him slightly, compare yourself with him more than you should, but deep down you adore him.

And it is difficult not to. Almost wherever you go, France seems determined to be spectacular: Brittany, Alsace, the Landes, Périgord, the Pyrenees, the Alpine valleys, Provence. Its landscapes are almost as varied as Spain’s and, if I had to choose, I would probably admit that its average beauty is even greater.

There are still quite a few areas I have yet to see, so I hope to correct that over the next few years. And there is one thing for which I struggle to find a rival: few European countries have a collection of villages as beautiful as France.