Surrounded by the rural hills of the Vosges, the city is the perfect setting to get in a festive mood.

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Unlike Mr Sarkozy, she did grow up with her father present, in a family of eight children in the Vosges in eastern France.

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Tucked between the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine, hugging the border between France and Germany, Alsace enjoys a cool growing climate similar to that of the Champagne region.

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