Champagne (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ̃paɲ]) is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.

Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles (160 km) east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area. Most of Champagne is now part of the French administrative region of Champagne-Ardenne, which comprises four departments: Ardennes, Aube, Haute-Marne, and Marne.

The name Champagne comes from the Latin campania and referred to the similarities between the rolling hills of the province and the Italian countryside of Campania located south of Rome.

In the High Middle Ages, the province was famous for the Champagne Fairs.

Coordinates: 49°00′N 4°00′E / 49°N 4°E / 49; 4

France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).

Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), the most famous broadcast in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), which many critics and scholars name as the best film of all time.

After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.

Rudy Maxa (born 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American consumer travel expert. He's the host and executive producer of 85 half-hour travel shows on the world's great destinations that are broadcast on public television in the US with the titles Smart Travels: Europe with Rudy Maxa, Smart Travels: Pacific Rim with Rudy Maxa, and--since 2008--Rudy Maxa's World. His most recent 20 episodes of Rudy Maxa's World are also broadcast overseas on Travel Channel International and have received numerous awards, including two regional Emmy awards.

In addition, Maxa hosts America's most widely syndicated radio travel show, a two-hour weekend show also called Rudy Maxa's World.

Maxa began his career in journalism after graduating from Ohio University (BSJ, '71) as an investigative reporter, magazine writer, and personalities columnist at The Washington Post (1971-83). His reporting on a Capitol Hill sex scandal and the resulting changes in congressional rules was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and he received the John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism for a series of stories on an international Ponzi scheme.