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France
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FRANCE

Capital: Paris (pop. 10,150,000)

Population: 59,765,983

Area: 547,030 sq. km.

Economy: In 2002, France ranked 13th in the UN's Human Development Index survey and 6th in total GDP, with a per capita GDP of $25,767. 9.9% of its population lives on less than $11 per day.

Main Language: French

Monkey's Name: Le Singe (luh sonzh)

Fun Fact: France produces over 400 varieties of cheese. It is also the world's top wine producer, generating 57,541 hectoliters of the good stuff in 2000. No news here, really.
The Monkey has been to France on at least three separate occasions. He enjoys the wine, the antiquity, the culture, and the French way of being—that certain "le singe ne sait pas" that makes France France. He is also a big fan of three French singers: the songbird Edith Piaf, the inimitable Serge Gainsbourg and the incomparable Claude François.

Le Singe visited France for the first time in December of 1995, staying with friends in St. Cloud near Paris. A few months later in April of 1996 the Monkey returned to Paris after his trip through Spain and Morocco. And in January of 2002 he returned to France, this time in the Roussillon region of the south. In the following pages are photos from all of his visits. Use the links below to help navigate.

Each time the Monkey leaves France he swears he'll be back. Partially, that's because France is the heart of Western Europe. It's also due to the fact that, with Germany, France is the motor driving the New Europe. There is endless variety in the different regions, scenery galore, a fascinating history, and delicious foods and customs. And of course, there's Paris, perhaps the world's finest city, with its cafés and streets and buildings and people, and that perfect embrace of the Seine with its banks. It might also be that the Monkey had a Henry Miller-esque fling with an artist's model under the rooftops of Paris, but since this is an all-ages website he'll leave that bit where it is…

So, until the Monkey returns, he says, "Au revoir, mon petit chou-chou."

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Le Singe and the some Parisian architecture.
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