France -- Champs Les Sims

France -- Champs Les Sims

Ah France, home to Nectar, smelly people, and free love... I was kidding about the last two... But seriously, this is probably the region that we most want to visit just for the cool factor alone, though honestly I think that they missed a bet here by not making the Eiffel Tower an attraction and part of the zone, just saying...

Chances are you came here from China, since it offers you the opportunity to further level your skills before taking on Egypt, which is really the tough zone in the game, but if not, well then you are by now a seasoned adventurer! Actually if you completed China you are still a seasoned adventurer, but if you did Egypt as well as China then you are a well-seasoned one heh.

While we maintain the whole "Tomb" motif here, the Tombs in France should really be called Dungeons... Interesting Dungeons!

Welcome to France -- Now make Nectar!

-- Tombs in Champs Les Sims --

This is another mixed bag of access issues, and as before putting your focus on the quest system is the best path to take here, since it will eventually see you going everywhere and getting everything, so take that as good advice, right mates?

-- La Gallerie d'Art: Museum Catacombs --

Access ot the Catacombs is obtained by using the hidden lever on the wall on the ground floor, and then heading through the secret door. When you reach the room with the two floor switches, use the statue to trigger first one, then the other, and that will unlock the hall door. Collect the French Signet of the Museum Catacombs and then search for the Relic before you depart!

-- Nectary Cellar / Tomb of Isael / Tomb of Jean Necteaux --

You will begin this exploration during the quest The Nectar Research Assistant Needed Adventure and it starts with finding the secret doors -- Make your way through the series of secret doors and grab the Bottle of Nectar that is the object of your desire, and then The French Signet of the Nectary Cellar.

As this adventure progresses you will travel to Egypt, visiting and exploring the Tomb of Isael, where you will collect a series of Keystones as you progress through the Tomb. If you get stuck on finding the hidden doors, try flushing a toilet or two...

In the progress of reaching The French Signet of the Tomb of Isael you will battle a few Mummy enemies -- have fun with that! To access the Tomb of Jean Nexteaux, you use the floor switches and the statues -- the statues in the Tomb of Isael when placed on the floor switches give your Sim access to hidden doors in Necteaux, but the statue you encounter just before the Statue Room puzzle needs to be pulled off of the switch, as it will prevent you from collecting treasure in the Tomb of Jean Necteaux.

Once you disable the traps you will have free access to the chamber with the sarcophagus that holds the Nectar Recipe you need, and be sure to use your star keystone to open the hidden door behind the sarcophagus to obtain another relic. Once you have completed that and grabbed The Signet of the Tomb of Jean Necteaux it is time to head back!

The Nectary and home to magic in a bottle!

-- Tuatha's Garden --

Sccess to the island requires Pangu's Axe. so smash the boulders at the entrance to be greeted by one of the toughest of the Toombs in the game! The first puzzle is tricky, and it will help if you have a partner with you -- that way you can easily activate both floor switches.

Carefully follow your way through the maze, and harvest any plants you encounter (trust me) becausse they are mostly rare. You will find some Relics and some other loot, and lots of butterflies (if you are collecting). Get the French Signet of Tuatha's Garden through the hidden door in a chest BEFORE you leave -- though you can come back here when you want, if you did not clear it or you want to get more plants/butterflies.

-- The Chateau Series --

Pretty much the rest of the Tombs that follow relate to or are part of the Chateau, which has to be the most complicated and trap-rich of the Tombs in the game! It is also the most difficult to explore and easiest to get confused and lost in, and is likely where you will spend more time in the game than the others combined... So let's get started:

-- Chateau du Landgraab --

A period mansion with a mixture of architectural elements, try not to get lost in here, and bear in mind that almost every one of the puzzles in here have obvious clues to their solution. Take your time and solve each puzzle as you encounter it, because they sort of serve as the gatekeeper here, and require their solution to proceed further into the Tomb.

Bear in mind that you are not going to be clearing this in just a few visits. It is good and helpful advice to suggest that this be the focus of your efforts -- meaning that you do not break up your Tomb delving with other activities because the complex layout and easy risk of getting lost means that pounding away at this until it is cleared is a better tactic.

Welcome to the Chateau

-- The Lost Library of Landgraab --

By the time you reach the middle of this one you will be right sick of traps mates, as you will have disarmed more than just a few! You should be familiar with this location already because you had a quest in China that brought you here -- to the Landgraab Cellars -- but anyway this is a fairly loot-rich area as there are Relics and collection items here.

If you have the NoMosaic add-on installed, remove it, because some of the clues that this Tomb uses to help you with finding and disarming traps uses it and so that will keep you from seeing important clues.

-- The Groundskeeper's Journal --

The former groundskeeper of the Landgraab estate, Willard Leroo, kept a journal that contains first-hand information about the disappearance of Anastasia Necteaux and sets you off on this quest, whifch has you recover the journal. This is a simple quest that requires the Heart Keystone to enter, and you will find that downstairs through the rear of the shack... This is really just a fetch-quest since once you have access to the chest you basically have access to everything here.

-- Chateau Crawl --

Using the Ballroom Keystone to enter the door on the right side of the Chateau, keep an eye out for clues as you clear each room, as one well-tuned device will open the panels you need to open (that was a hint).

After a bit of statue adjustments you will gain access to the second floor of the estate, but as you progress keep your eyes out for hidden doors -- and be sure to check and clear each area for loot and exposed Relics!

When you get tired or need the facilities -- look! There they are! After you disarm the traps on the 2nd and 3rd floor -- assuming you have the Cellars Keystone you now have access to almost the entire place (you already accessed the wine cellar doing the quest from China).

-- Area Quests --

The quests that I flagged are organized below by series -- there may actually be quests that I did not get offered, so take the list that follows to be as complete as I could make it but there may be one or two I never was offered, just saying:

-- A Trivial Affair --

This will very likely be your first quest in the region, and really what it is to be blunt is the tutorial quest -- which covers all of the basics -- and since you have already been through China none of this is going to be a challenge for you...

You will get your first Signet, visit the Forgotten Burial Mound, and in the process fully obtain Visa Level 1, so bonus! Make sure that you obtain The Signet of the King's Burial Ground while doing this.

The island ruins

-- The Search Begins --

This quest series will introduce you to the Chateau du Landgraab, which you will gradually unlock full access to (you have already been there once if you did the China quests). Basically Noelle Saint James asks you to interview Berthe Girard for any information concerning the history and then report back -- he says that he is doing this to write a book...

All that you really need to do is befriend the target and then ask the questions to do the interview and you can turn this one in. Easy-Peasy!

-- The New Nectar Machine --

Completing this straight-forward quest will introduce you to the art of Nectar making -- but you should still buy and read the three books to get to Level 10 in that, and you will want to kit yourself out and buy fruit so you can experiment with making your own vintages, right?

You are going to need Titanium to complete this, so hopefully by now you have the Collection Helper and have been building a supply of the different metals... Even if you do not, all of the Titanium on the map is revealed until you complete the gathering target anyway, but you could use that to your advantage to gain an extra supply of it... Just saying.

-- Nectar Research Assistant Needed --

This is one of the longer quest series in the region, and takes your Sim deep into the Nectary Cellars, which is pretty cool if you think about it... Not only does it serve as a source for several Sigils but it is also one of the region-linking quests since it sends you off to Egypt where thanks to its requirements you gain access to the Tomb of Isael and the Tomb of Jean Necteaux. And how cool is that?

-- Landgraab I: Kidnapper? --

This quest starts a series that takes you to Chateau du Landgraab and expands your knowledge of that Tomb (technically it is actually several Tombs), as well as encourage you to explore the countryside and collect lots of rocks. Cool that. Eventually as you progress the series this one will help you gain access to the last bits of the Chateau, so it really is not to be missed mates.

The Art Museum

-- Trouble at the Museum --

This is the quest series that takes you to the Museum Catacombs under La Gallerie d'Art, and has you becoming a top-notch explorer! It offers decent loot, but you will want to take particular care while doing the Cemetery to carefully explore -- and loot -- everything!

-- Surveying the Property --

This is the quest that provides you with access to the secret garden and a perfect example for why focusing upon the quests is the way to go for exploring a region! While the loot is not much to speak of for this collection wise, there are some decent treasures so if you are low on funds this will help a lot...

-- More Like "Haunted Garden" --

"Help! It turns out there may have been a reason my secret garden was sealed off. It is haunted! Do you think you could communicate with the apparition for me? Perhaps find out what it wants, what it will take for it to leave, or perhaps what it's willing to pay in rent? Its tombstone is in the garden..." And so starts Ghost Busters France! Just kidding, but still this is a fun little adventure, and all that you need to do to complete it is to enter the walled garden and find the glowing headstone.

Once you have it located, click on it to mourn for the dear departed soul!