Saarland, Germany

Saarland is the second-smallest state and it is genuinely more French than German in everything except the paperwork — the coal and steel region on the French border where the cuisine, the accent and the habits all lean west. Saarbrücken is the capital with a genuinely good food scene and a French-inflected street life, the Völklingen Ironworks is the enormous preserved blast furnace that is UNESCO-listed and genuinely breathtaking as industrial archaeology, the Saarschleife is the river bend with the clifftop view that is the state's landmark, and the whole state is small enough to drive across in forty minutes.

The state's character is industrial-turned-quiet, with the coal mines closed and the economy rebuilt around car plants and services, and a local culture that eats French, drinks German beer and speaks a dialect that French speakers can partially follow. Everybody knows everybody and the state has been shuffled between the two countries twice.

Expect real French-German blend, genuine small-state warmth, and a state that has changed nationality twice and kept the food both times.

Nearby: Rhineland-Palatinate Frankfurt Hesse Cologne