The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the 17th century, first in Europe, and from the 19th century on, world wide. From the late 19th century, France has also played an important role in cinema, fashion and cuisine. The importance of French culture has waxed and waned over the centuries, depending on its economic, political and military importance. French culture today is marked both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and by strong unifying tendencies.

Wherever you come from, "culture" consists of beliefs and values learned through the socialization process as well as material arts. "Culture is the learned set of beliefs, values, norms and material goods shared by group members. Culture consists of everything we learn in groups during the life course-from infancy to old age."

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.

Samantha Elizabeth Brown (born March 31, 1969) is an American television host, notable for her work as the host of several Travel Channel shows including Girl Meets Hawaii, Great Vacation Homes, Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America, Great Weekends, Passport to China, and Samantha Brown's Asia. As of 2012 Samantha Brown has made her own travel luggage called Samantha Brown: Travel America. Ms. Brown is known for her perky disposition. She is currently a resident of Brooklyn, New York.

Brown was born in Dallas, Texas. Her family soon moved to New Castle, New Hampshire, where she grew up and graduated from Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire. She performed with Music and Drama Company with award winning designer Brian Sidney Bembridge. She took 12 years of voice lessons, attended Chapman University, and transferred to Syracuse University to study musical theater. As stated in one of her episodes in Passport to Europe, she is of Scottish and German descent.

Brown's early career included working in commercials, notably playing the spokesperson "Wendy Wire" for a company called Century Cable. She is involved in the comedy sketch group "Mouth", based in New York, where she has lived for ten years. Brown has appeared in the HP Pavilion "Computer is Personal Again" commercials. Additionally, she is the spokesperson for ECCO shoes. Brown is also a spokesperson in a 2009 commercial for Cedar Point amusement park.