The rugged Pyrenees, a 270-mile-long chain of mountains, run east to west, forming the border between France and Spain. There are many snow-covered peaks, some of them more than 10,000 feet high. Since the range has almost no low-lying passes, these mountains are difficult to cross. Traveling in the Pyrenees is a quiet experience-in this remote region you will mainly hear cowbells and the bleating of sheep.

At the foot of the Pyrenees is the town called Lourdes, a shrine that marks the site where the Virgin Mary appeared to the Frenchwoman Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Because of her visions, many people came to believe that the waters of a nearby spring had healing properties. Today, every year up to five million people visit the cave at Lourdes, hoping that a miracle will heal their illnesses.

The French Alps rise up between France, Italy and Switzerland and contains the tallest peak in all of Europe: Mont Blanc, with a height of 15,771 feet. Both the Pyrenees and the French Alps are young mountain ranges, so nature hasn't had time to wear down their spectacular peaks, but unlike the Pyrenees, the Alps are broken in places by river valleys. These openings make it possible to pass through to Italy and Switzerland, except when the high passes are blocked by snow. In 1963 the first national park in France, called the Vanoise, was established in the French Alps and now both French citizens and tourists visit this nature preserve which protects plants and animals on a large scale.

The climate in both these mountain ranges is cold and harsh. In the high valleys where there are small villages and towns, the winters are long and cold and the summers are short and cool. Often it will snow in those towns fifty or more days in a year.