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The cheapest and most convenient way to change money in France is via ATMs (known as DABs in French); they accept all the major international credit and bank cards. You get the best exchange rate by using a credit card for purchases and a debit card for cash. Traveller's cheques are the safest and are almost universally accepted, especially in larger towns and tourist centres; they also offer better exchange rates than cash. Leaving a pourboire (tip) is done at your discretion - restaurants and accommodations add a 10-15% service charge to every bill, making a tip unneccesary, but most people leave a few coins if the service was satisfactory.

The number of people in this popular coastal resort in French Basque Country swells dramatically over summer. Once favoured by European aristocracy and later by money-laden Britons, Biarritz now draws an international crowd to its fine beaches, casinos and surfing spots, which have lent it the name la Californie de l'Europe.

The town's cultural sights are not likely to keep you out of the sun too long. They include a blue-domed Russian Orthodox church; hotels with lobbies the size of skating rinks; Asiatica, one of Europe's finest collections of Oriental art; and the Musée de la Mer. The latter - recently refurbished - has an aquarium with numerous tanks of sea life and a museum documenting the area's involvement in commercial fishing and whaling. Outside pools contain seals and sharks.

Biarritz's fashionable beaches are lined with brightly striped bathing tents and packed with people during summer. After a busy day's frying you can play golf or cesta punta, the world's fastest game, played with a ball and scoop-like racquet; be entertained by nightly folklore performances; or trawl through displays of Basque music and handicrafts.

Known simply as Sarlat, this lovely Renaissance town in Périgord (better known in English-speaking countries as the Dordogne) grew up around a Benedictine abbey founded in the 9th century. Caught between French and English territory, it was almost left in ruins during the Hundred Years' War and again during the Wars of Religion. Despite this, Sarlat retains a distinctive medieval flavour with its ochre-coloured sandstone buildings and enticing streets. If you want to avoid the crowds, plan a visit outside high summer, when the town is overrun by tourists.

Among Sarlat's architectural treasures is the Cathédrale Saint Sacerdos, originally part of the Benedictine abbey. Higgledy-piggledy in style, most of the present structure dates from the 17th century. Behind the cathedral is the town's first cemetery, containing the Lantern of the Dead, a 12th-century tower built to commemorate St Bernard, who visited in 1147 and whose relics were given to the abbey. The town's other main focus is the Saturday market. Depending on the season, foie gras, mushrooms, truffles, trussed-up geese and sheep's heads with rheumy eyes are traded among a racket of vendors and spectators.

Sarlat also makes an excellent base for trips to the nearby Vézère Valley, which is peppered with nearly 200 prehistoric sites, including the Lascaux cave, thought to have been the site of a hunting cult where magical rites were performed. Discovered in 1940, this capacious labyrinth holds a number of 15,000-year-old doodles and paintings of bulls, horses and reindeer. There are other painted caves in the area, but Lascaux is sans pareil.