Gourmet appetites know no bounds in France, a paradise for food lovers with its varied cuisine, markets and local gusto for dining well.

Go to Burgundy for hearty wine-based cooking, Brittany and the Atlantic Coast for seafood, and Basque Country for a slice of Spanish spice. Here are our favorite French food experiences.

Parisian pâtisseries (pastry shops) are similar to bakeries but seem more sophisticated. Although they sell different varieties of pastries, each one is often known for a particular specialities.

A chocolatier specialises in chocolates, generally sold in 100g increments and available in over a dozen mouthwatering flavours: pistachio, lavender, ginger, orange and more.

Cream, apples and cider are the essentials of Norman cuisine, which sees mussels simmered in cream and a splash of cider to make moules à la crème normande.

Creamy camembert is the local cow’s-milk cheese, and on the coast coquilles St-Jacques (scallops) and huîtres (oysters) rule the seafood roost.

Apples are the essence of the region’s main tipples: tangy cider and the potent calvados (apple-flavoured brandy), exquisite straight or splashed on apple sorbet.

Vine-wealthy Burgundy honors a culinary trinity of beef, red wine and Dijon mustard. Begin with oeufs en meurette (wine-poached eggs) or snails in their shells with butter, garlic and parsley.

Savor bœuf bourguignon (beef marinated and cooked in young red wine with mushrooms, onions, carrots and bacon), followed by the pick of Burgundy AOC cheeses.

Wine tasting in the Côte d’Or vineyards, source of world-famous Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune wines, is obligatory when in Burgundy; laid-back Irancy is an insider favorite.

No Alsatian dish is more classic than choucroute alsacienne or choucroute garnie – sauerkraut flavored with juniper berries and served hot with sausages, bacon, pork and/or ham knuckle.

It’s meaty, Teutonic and served in winstubs (traditional Alsatian taverns). Wädele braisé au pinot noir (ham knuckles braised in wine) also come with sauerkraut.

Crack open a bottle of light citrusy sylvaner, crisp dry Alsatian riesling or full-bodied pinot noir to accompany either, and round off the filling feast with a tarte alsacienne.

Sweet tooths will adore Alsatian gingerbread and kougelhopf (sugared, ring-shaped raisin cake).