FRANCE — Those in search of the legendary hot bi babe might add France to their short list, if a recent report on sexual behavior has any travel prep planning credibility. According to a National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) and National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) study, there has been a “significant increase” in the number of women aged 18 – 69 who admit to having been sexual with another woman.Alas for those with visions of rampant all-girl lingerie parties desperately in need of a few good men, The Daily Telegraph reports that those numbers aren’t huge. What was a mere 2.6-percent of the female population in 1992 is a whopping four-percent today. By comparison, 4.1-percent of men admitted to having sex with another man; the same percentage as had previously said as much.

Among the other findings uncovered after surveying more than 12,300 men and women between September 2005 and March 2006, is the fact that during the French girls have begun participating in partnered sex at nearly the same age as boys, with boys doing so at 17.2 years of age and girls at 17.6. Girls are more likely to explore same-sex intimacy, however.

Although researches cautioned study pundits to understand that women respondents tend to under-report one-night stands, those involved reported more sexual partners than had those in the 1970 or 1992 reports. During the past 50 years men have started having sex with others a year younger, while women have begun exploring partnered sex three years younger. More than a third of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 have visited dating sites and one of every 10 men between 20 and 24 have managed to score with someone they met online. Oddly enough, six-percent of women made the same claim.

Sex isn’t only for the barely legal French citizen, however. The average number of sexual partners that a French woman is likely to have is 4.4. Men, by comparison, have slept with 11.6 partners, a number that hasn’t budged since 1970. Given the growing number of world citizens over the age of 50, news is good for French women – they remain more sexually active than ever before.

Viva la France!