Every four years, the top bakers and pastry chefs from all five continents face off at the World Cup of Baking in Paris. Contestants from some 36 countries take part in the timed event. Each team must make different types of bread and pastries, as well as one spectacular work of art. We take you behind the scenes of this hotly contested bake-off, where France faces stiff competition.

The lavender fields of the Valensole Plateau, in France's southern Provence region, are an ocean of purple-blue. This is where much of the plant's global production is grown. Many families in the region have been working with lavender for several generations. There are those who continue their activity in the traditional way and those who have opted for a more industrial method. Either way, these beautiful landscapes attract thousands of tourists from around the world.

The French island of Groix, off the coast of Brittany, is ​​the land of stern sculling, a single-oar technique used for centuries by fishermen. Although traditional fishing has disappeared today, the island continues to keep the tradition alive by organising a world stern sculling championship each year. Islanders of all generations take part and competition is fierce. We went to check it out.

It's one of the largest wildlife parks in Europe and welcomes more than one million visitors every year. Beauval Zoo, located in France's Loire Valley, is home to more than 35,000 animals and employs some 600 people to look after them and greet the public. Over the past 40 years, Beauval has also become a reference in the preservation of animal biodiversity. FRANCE 24 tells you more about the zoo's unique history and its stars – from wild birds to giant pandas.

How is "Fort Boyard", one of the most famous TV game shows in France, made? We give you the keys to the fort! We discover how the challenges are designed and tested. We also see how, behind the thick walls of the fort, hundreds of professionals – hosts, directors, camera operators, animal tamers, technicians, workers and decorators – have been working hard to enthral viewers every summer for more than 30 years.

We take you to discover a magnificent stately home located in France's Loire Valley. The Château of Cheverny is listed as a historical monument and it also inspired Tintin creator Hergé for the family home of Captain Haddock. One in three visitors to Cheverny comes for the world of Tintin, an important source of income. The same family has carefully maintained the castle and grounds for more than six centuries, with each generation laying a new stone to the edifice.

In France's south-eastern Ardèche region, as winter ends, the forest slowly wakes up from its long hibernation. Spring is the time when a whole population gets busy studying, preserving and tidying up these natural spaces. Agents of the French National Forests Office replant saplings and choose the trees to be felled, volunteers redo the signage of the hiking paths before the summer and private forest owners take care of grafting. We went to see them.

The pilots of the Patrouille de France are the undisputed masters of the air. Their planes fly at 600 kilometres an hour, just three metres apart. Every year, a new team is selected to represent the know-how and excellence of the French Air Force. But before performing across France and overseas, the pilots must spend weeks perfecting their training. We caught up with them on the French island of Corsica.

Located in central France, the Regional Natural Park of the Auvergne, with its 400,000 hectares, is the largest volcanic ensemble in Europe. In July 2018, UNESCO listed the Chaîne des Puys mountains range as a world heritage site. Since then, a whole population has been striving to preserve this priceless heritage. We meet the park wardens studying the minute creatures of these open spaces and the craftsmen producing enamelled lava from the dormant volcanoes.

The eastern French city of Verdun is a place of memory which symbolises the terrible human cost of World War I. Hundreds of thousands of French and German soldiers died there during 300 days of bitter combat in 1916. Every year, soldiers' bones and belongings are discovered around the city and carefully catalogued. To date, around 60,000 soldiers have still not been buried.