Starched aprons, cafe au lait, a languorous square. To experience France properly, it helps to

cultivate a faith in Gallic perfectibility and gracious living. Consider, for example, the medieval town of Bayeux in France's Normandy region, where we recommend a rustic inn whose courtyard opens onto a farmer's market bursting with fresh produce, fish, pates and cheeses. You might relish a stroll down the cobbled lanes of Troyes, in the Champagne region, whose houses seem to lean on each other for support. You'll discover a major surprise: a modern art museum whose sumptuous collection covers the giants of 20th-century painting.

 

  

Picturesque inns with superb restaurants are de rigueur in a nation gone mad with culinary fervor. We've uncovered the best in regions as far flung as Burgundy, the Jura Mountains south of Alsace, the Dordogne. Our personal favorite? Perhaps the old Provence farm now converted to a bed-and-breakfast with swimming pool, a short hop from Monte Carlo, or one of Alain Ducasse's country inns. Let us suggest Sunday lunch reservations at any number of quaint restaurants, where you'll savor this uniquely French ode to family, food and joie d'vivre.

You've "done" Paris? Have you attended a concert at Sainte-Chapelle on the Ile de la Cite, where stained glass windows soar as high as the music? No doubt you've sipped champagne among the works of Franz Hals and Rembrant at the Musee Jacquemart-Andre. And dined amid the cheery chaos at "The Dog Who Smokes. " If not, perhaps we can reveal a Paris undiscovered by most tourists.

  
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