dans un petit village du sud de la France

Question

I think I put "au sud de France"... I'm translating directly from English, but is there a reason why "in the south of France" becomes "du sud de la France"

Accepted Answer

Hi Michael 
The two acceptable answers are -
un petit village dans le sud de la France = a small village in the south of France 
or 
un petit village du sud de la France = ... from/ in the south of France 
Le sud de la France is a region rather than a cardinal point here.
You might say for instance

Versailles est au sud-ouest de Paris 
Lyon est au sud de Mâcon

Hope this helps!

Answer

Hi Michael,I'm guessing because it is non-specific. The reference is to "a village" in that "region".Jim