261 articles
Pale of Calais
The Pale of Calais (English Pale) was the English-held territory around Calais, France, from 1347 to 1558: about 120 square miles from Wissant to Gravelines, a wool staple, garrison town, and England's last continental possession.
Paris
Paris, capital of France, metro area about 11.2 million. Haussmann's 19th-century rebuilding, dense transit (3.3 stations/km2), climate adaptation plan 2024-2030, 45% NO2 drop, Seine swimming since 2025.
Passy
Passy: name of French communes, notably Passy (Yonne), eponymous site of monumental ~4700 BC Neolithic Passy-type necropolis, and Passy (Haute-Savoie) with a Roman temple of Mars and the 74 AD Forclaz boundary stone.
Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pau, New Aquitaine: commune and prefecture of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France, historic capital of Béarn, birthplace of Henri IV (1553) and Bernadotte (1763); 80,441 inhabitants (2023), first world aviation school (1911).
Périgueux
Périgueux, prefecture of the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France; ancient Gallo-Roman Vesunna on the Isle river. 29,055 inhabitants (2023), Saint-Front Cathedral UNESCO-listed, Vesunna museum by Jean Nouvel.
Perpignan
Perpignan (Perpinyà) is a city in southern France, prefecture of Pyrénées-Orientales. Continental capital of the Kingdom of Majorca 1276–1344; 121,616 inhabitants in 2023; poverty rate 36%.
Petit-Mars
Petit-Mars (Kervarc'h), commune in Loire-Atlantique, France, north of Nantes; named after the god Mars and the forêt de Mars. Gallo-Roman theater and Temple of Mars at the Coussol (SILVA MARTIS); 3,888 inhabitants; mayor Chrystophe Pabois since 2026.
Peyrus
Peyrus, a commune in the Drome, France, at the gates of the Vercors 20 km east of Valence; about 610 inhabitants, first recorded 1198, known for the Romanesque chapel Saint-Pierre, tuf quarries, and a Gallo-Roman villa.
Pithiviers-le-Vieil
Pithiviers-le-Vieil, a Loiret commune (INSEE 45253) southwest of Pithiviers, France, known for its Gallo-Roman baths, eight fanum temples, and 1972 merger with Bouzonville-en-Beauce.
Plage de Longchamp
Plage de Longchamp, the longest beach of Saint-Lunaire (also touching Saint-Briac-sur-Mer) on Brittany's Côte d'Émeraude: a 600 m northwest-facing fine-sand surf spot with a 1926 stepped seawall from Pierre Patout's unfinished 1928–1931 resort project.
Plage du Minou
Plage du Minou (Plage du Petit Minou), sandy surf cove in Plouzané, Finistère, Brittany, at the western entrance of the Goulet de Brest below the Petit Minou lighthouse and fort du Minou; unguarded, tide-dependent beach with monitored bathing water.
Plailly
Plailly (Oise, France): commune near Senlis with Saint-Martin church (12th century); excavations at 13-21 rue de Paris show continuous occupation from Merovingian times; TGN 1034872, Pleiades 109250.
Poitiers
Poitiers, prefecture of Vienne in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, is a city of about 90,000 on a rocky spur between the Clain and Boivre rivers, a former regional capital with 86 listed monuments and 31,000 students.
Port-le-Grand
Port-le-Grand, a commune on the right bank of the lower Somme (Somme, Hauts-de-France), an ancient Gallo-Roman port and Roman villa site, birthplace of Saint Honoré, chartered 28 July 1218 by Guillaume, count of Ponthieu.
Pouzauges
Pouzauges, a hilltop commune in Vendée, France (INSEE 85182), Petite Cité de Caractère with an 11th-century donjon, 355 m castle curtain wall, Romanesque churches, and about 5,700 inhabitants.
Provins
Provins, Seine-et-Marne commune near Paris; UNESCO World Heritage medieval fair town of Champagne (inscribed 2001); 11,632 inhabitants (2023); ramparts, Tour César, vaulted cellars.
Puyloubier
Puyloubier, commune in Bouches-du-Rhône, France (INSEE 13079), on the southern piedmont of Montagne Sainte-Victoire; wine village of AOC Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire, Roman villa sites, Saint-Ser ermitage, Domaine Capitaine Danjou.
Rambouillet
Rambouillet, a commune in the Yvelines (Île-de-France) about 35 minutes from Paris, is known for its château, bought by Louis XVI in 1783, its presidential residence role, the 1975 first G6 summit, and the 13,712-hectare Rambouillet forest.
Reims
Reims, city in Marne, Grand Est, France; coronation city of French kings (32 crowned, 25 in Notre-Dame cathedral) and champagne center; 177,674 inhabitants (2023); UNESCO-listed cathedral, Palace of Tau, and Abbey of Saint-Rémi since 1991.
Rennes
Rennes, capital of the Brittany region in western France, is a city of about 231,000 inhabitants (2023) known for its half-timbered historic center, the Parliament of Brittany building, the Marché des Lices, two metro lines, and TGV access 90 minutes from Paris.
Riom
Riom (ancient Ricomagum) is a town in Puy-de-Dôme, France, on a 355 m plateau; administrative and judicial capital of Auvergne 1212-1557, home of the Cour d'appel since 1804.
Rivarennes
Rivarennes: name of two French communes, one in Indre on the Creuse (602 inhabitants, Brenne park) and one in Indre-et-Loire on the Indre (Rivarinna, 7th-century coin, Roman hoard).
Roanne
Roanne, Loire commune and sous-préfecture on the Loire river (35,409 inhabitants in 2023); former French cotton and knitwear center, canal head, seat of Roannais Agglomération, mayor Yves Nicolin.
Rognes
Rognes, a commune in Bouches-du-Rhône, France, between Trévaresse and the Durance near Aix-en-Provence; known for the Domitii Aquenses Gallo-Roman mausoleum at Barbebelle, prehistoric sites, and the 1909 earthquake-damaged Saint-Marcellin chapel.
Rouen
Rouen, capital of Normandy and Seine-Maritime on the Seine 123 km from Paris; also Rotomagus. 116,331 inhabitants (2022), fifth French port, former ducal capital, Joan of Arc burned there, Métropole Rouen Normandie seat.
Roujan
Roujan is a commune in Hérault, France, tentatively identified with Medilianum. It is noted for its 1st-century Gallo-Roman sanctuary and the founding of the Cassan priory.
Rouvroy-les-Merles
Rouvroy-les-Merles, a small Oise commune (INSEE 60555) near Breteuil with 70 inhabitants in 2022; site of a Gallo-Roman vicus at Mont-Catillon with a theatre, baths, and a 642-coin hoard found in 1953.
Sacoué
Sacoué, a small commune (71 inhabitants) in the Barousse valley, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, at the foot of Mont Sacon, site of a Gallo-Roman mountain sanctuary and a former glassmaking village.
Saffré
Saffré is a commune in Loire-Atlantique, France, with Neolithic and Gallo-Roman remains, a historic lime industry, the protected Bois-Gouët upper Lutetian fossil site, and the WWII maquis de Saffré memorial.
Sail-sur-Couzan
Sail-sur-Couzan (officially Sail-sous-Couzan), Loire, France: Forez commune under the ruined fortress of Couzan, with the Magdalenian Grotte des Fées, a Cluniac priory, and a 19th-century thermal and textile-industrial past.