France is just so much more than croissants and The Eiffel Tower. Here are a few facts about the country:

• France is the largest tourist destination in the world: This is the most visited tourist spot, a whopping 89.3 million people visited the country just in 2018. Paris, the capital of France is the thrid most visited city in the world! Beautiful castles to majestic cathedrals, France has them all. Some of the most visited spots in France include: The Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Cote d'Azure, Palace of Versailles, Mont Saint-Michel, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Provence, Alsace villages and so on.
• For about 300 years, the official language of England was French! It can be a little hard to imagine most of England speaking French and not English! Willliam the Conqueror actually introduced Anglo-Normal French to the nation. But in 1362, the parliament passed the Pleading in English Act, making English the official language of government.
• France was the first country in the world to impose a ban on food wastage by supermarkets: In February 2016, France became the first country to ban supermarkets from throwing away unsold food. Stores are supposed to now donate surplus groceries to food banks, charities and those in need. All French supermarkets are also banned from destroying food as a way to prevent ‘dumpster divers’ from foraging in garbage bins. 
• The oldest person to have ever lived in the world was from France: Jeanne Louise Calment was actually a French woman who lived for 122 years and 164 days. She was born on 21 February 1875 and died on 4 August 1997. Furthermore, France now ranks 14th in the whole world for life expectancy.
• France has the most Nobel Prize winners in Literature in the world: A total of 15 French individuals have the the prize since 1901, France has produced some of the world’s greatest writers. Among France’s most celebrated poets, novelists, thinkers and writers are René Descartes, Voltaire, Charles Baudelaire, Gustave Flaubert, Blaise Pascal and Victor Hugo.
• The Louvre in Paris is the most visited museum in the world. It gets a whopping 9.6 million visitors every year. The Louvre is the biggest museum in the world, it is so big that it is almost impossible to see the entire museum in a single visit. It was initially built as a fortress and was later converted into a museum and houses about 7,500 paintings! The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous art masterpieces in the museum, it is surrounded by bullet-proof glass and has its own body guards. It was stolen in 1911 but was returned to the museum two years later. 
• France produces around 1.7 million tonnes of cheese a year.
• Paris Gard du Nord is the busiest train station in Europe: Its located in Paris  and is the busiest railway station in the whole of Europe and in the world (outside of Japan). The station is due to undergo more expansion work in order to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.