FRANCE still remains to be the country with the most romantic people in the world. Foreigners from Asia to the United States, from the Middle East to Greenland can really attest to this. The New Year’s celebration has just faded yet France remains to be the beauty that she is. People in France are also described as intellectuals and they tend to be individualistic and being loners most probably because they are thinking just about anything else – from politics to romance, from sex to sports. They are constantly thinking and that is what makes them an asset. People who stop thinking are after all cannot move on with life. It’s just a practical and rational thing to do, right?

Anyway, let’s talk about Paris. Even though it is not located by the beach and River Seine is not exactly your idea of a skinny dipping stop, it is still a beautiful, serene and medieval city with a touch of class and style. Even though you have personal problems, all you need to do is stroll around the various parks in the city and inhale deeply. Paris parks and gardens such as Parc André Citroën are away from the major thoroughfares although most of the vehicles plying here are devoid of smoke already so there is really no smog in Paris at all even if you go to the roofdeck of Galeries Lafayette and bask at the skyline of the City of Lights. Roofdecks of high rise buildings are ideal for romantic dinners especially if you can see the fully illuminated Eiffel Tower at a distance.

If you are really the daring kind, the only thing to look forward to this summer is going to the naked city of Cap d’Agde. Cap d’Agde is actually a seaside nudist resort but it is not just a beach resort with European Union-stamped blue flag accreditation. It is more of a shopping mecca for naturists where everybody from the security guard (with only a gun holster belt as his apparel) to the attendants naked. But if you’re the more physically adventurous one or are craving to witness Tour de France, then check out the route of Tour de France for this year. Tour de France may have been marred with steroid scandals in the past but it remains to be France’s premier sports competition.

Participants of Tour de France must really be experienced cyclists however so if you’re not the kind who can beat Floyd Landis or Lance Armstrong anytime, then you better be on the sidelines. So if you really participate into a sport, try practicing parkour. It’s not a contact sport, not even a martial art but it is an escapist art. The concept of parkour is in how an individual can outmaneuver his peers by swinging through obstacles instead of merely running conventionally along pedestrian lanes. There are lots of parkour schools mushrooming in France ever since it has gained fame in two recent Hollywood hits – the James Bond film Casino Royale and Die Hard 4.0.