France is a country full of contrasts despite the visible contours of the landscape in large formations. The lands foundation consists of a series of ancient mountains in the Central Massif, the Armorican Massif, the Ardennes and the Vosges. The Corsica island was formed the same way its mountain is located in the west region. The most important characteristic of these mountains is that they were originally formed as folding mountains, and then the edges were raised again by erosion over millions of years. Man has long made its mark in France. Less than 20% of the total area of the country is now covered with forests, which is not too good.
The beautiful landscapes we were talking about can be found in the Paris Basin, the Basin of Acvitania and the Rhone Valley. In the second Basin are the largest sand dunes in Europe. The Acvitania basin opens to the Bay of Biscay, on the west coast of France. Strong erosion of the Pyrenees mountains led to sedimentation of silt. Sand dunes are formed by the sea waves. A huge dune, like a protective wall is the Pilate Dune and has a height of 115 m. This huge dune shelters the Acvitania basin from the sea.
In the Mediterranean area of France low rainfall and high temperatures are recorded in summer and in the winter the cold and moisture make their presence. The western part of France is characterized by the Atlantic Ocean. In Brittany, the weather is always bad and it rains often. Inside the country the climate is continental. In Paris, for example, precipitation is halved compared to those from Brittany. In the east the climate has a Central European influence, and the mountains are covered by snow.