France has known and mastered the virtues of sea, thermal and fresh water for a long time now.
A relic of Roman antiquity, thermalism was revived in France and brought up-to-date in the 19th century. Still today, it uses waters from natural springs that are rich in oligo-elements, with each source of water featuring its own therapeutic virtues.
Thermal centres are usually located at the foot of mountains and volcanoes, or at the heart of plains. Nowadays, more and more of them are revealing a complementary savoir-faire with original and exotic techniques, developing a more popular, contemporary thermalism in sync with today's spa world.