Why do I love living in France? There are so many reasons! Granted it’s not perfect, but there’s a lot to like about living in France. Which is why I’m very grateful I was able to make the move successfully. So here are my top 5 favorite things about living in France, in no particular order:
1st Favorite thing about France: The Food
Food is always the first thing that comes to mind for why I love living in France. So obviously I’ll mention it first as a top 5 favorite things about living in France. French food excels in its bread, cheese, wine, and sauces that use cream and butter. The French baguette, croissant, etc. are delicious staples you can get any morning at any boulangerie in France. Boulangeries are bakeries often with patisserie sweets, and they’re so important that they stayed open during the COVID-19 crisis.
In the US I never went to a local bakery, but I do here in France. Admittedly I go more often for a special weekend breakfast than I go for baguette. Baguette goes best to sop up sauces, particularly pasta sauces, but can also be used as amazing sandwich bread. However, they go hard and stale in as little as 12 hours, so you really need to get them fresh. Then, going to a French restaurant to have a full course meal, it’s incomparable to American restaurants.
2nd Favorite thing: Dining Culture
In addition to the excellent food, the dining culture is also great here in France. There’s actually a law stipulating that businesses can’t let their workers eat lunch at their desk. This is to encourage workers to truly take a well-deserved break to refresh and disconnect from work. While the French seem to follow this religiously, they also practice the cultural custom of complaining about work. But at least they’re connecting with their coworkers and letting off steam.
Lunch also involves either sitting around a table in the lunch room or going to a restaurant and sitting outside. Fast food does exist in France, but outside of major cities like Paris, it’s not as common. The French will almost never eat while walking, and take their food to go only when they need to.
And I love this about the French. I’ve always loved taking my time to enjoy food during lunch, not rushing, and finishing a meal with coffee before getting back to work. Many Americans prefer to eat lunch at their desk while working, or barely take a lunch break at all. But I love taking my time.
3rd Favorite thing about France: Architecture
Another one of my top 5 favorite things about living in France is the architecture. The architecture of France is definitely one of the first things I appreciate when coming to France from the US. Compared to the US, France is much richer in history, something immediately apparent with the architecture you can find here. It’s the first thing you see when you arrive in France. Haussman-style architecture in particular is famous for its big windows, balconies, and parallel lines. Also of note are the white stone, the blue tin roofs, and the small brick chimneys protruding from the roofs.
The architecture changes to more stone, smaller, and provincial in places like Normandy and Brittany. You’ll also find pink stone with blue shutters and pastel colors in the south of France, especially in the Cote d’Azur. All of it is so beautiful and varied, yet so rich in culture and history. This is a sharp contrast from American architecture that, except for some colonial towns, were all built the same with a completely different style.
A lot of buildings in the US were designed with cars in mind. They were built for practicality and speed of construction, without superfluous aesthetics. The brutalist style of the 1960s that inspired the construction of the Boston Government center comes to mind as a great misfortune to the city of Boston.
4th Favorite thing: Transportation
Trains are so convenient! And when you don’t have a car, transportation plays a major part in your daily life. Which is why I included it in one of the top 5 favorite things about living in France. While the US has Amtrak or metro service for bigger metropolitan cities, France also has a light rail system of trams that often runs above ground.
After living in NYC for so many years, it was so nice to take the tram system in Strasbourg! Granted it doesn’t run 24 hours a day nor as frequent as trains every 3-4 minutes. Instead, the Strasbourg tram system runs every 8-12 minutes on dedicated tram lines above ground. They will either run in between car streets or share the street with cars. They also occasionally go below ground in sections as well. It runs incredibly smoothly, with no wheels, only silent electricity. And much of the rails themselves will be nestled among patches of dirt or grass. I even saw a sprinkler system to irrigate the grass the train glides over! Now talk about green travel!
France also has a much better inter-city train system. I think the ACELA Amtrak train is the closest the US comes to high speed smooth trains. In France they have TGV trains that can make it from Strasbourg to Paris in only 2 hours time. They do this by running speeds of up to 320km/h (almost 200mph!). Centered in Paris, the TGV reaches all corners of France. From Lille to the north, to Nantes in the West, to Marseille and Bordeaux in the south and south-west.
5th Favorite thing: Healthcare
My final top 5 favorite thing about living in France? I’m not afraid to go to the doctor anymore! Or a specialist, for that matter. It won’t break the bank! I remember how fearful I was when I went to the dentist with my wife. It was for a much-needed teeth cleaning and to fill some cavities. I was afraid of the worst when I told them I didn’t have any insurance. So you can imagine my surprise when they sighed and said, alright, you’ll have to pay full price: 34 euros. Such a low price for a few cavities and teeth cleaning without insurance! The same thing would have cost over $400 in the United States! It was from that moment on that I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about going to the doctor anymore.
Granted, it’s different than the US system. Even with a primary care physician, you’ll still have to come in during consultation hours and wait in line to be seen. But the social security that comes with living in France is great. You’ll get a Carte Vitale (French national healthcare card) with a chip like a credit card. It keeps your information so the doctors know what to charge you. But it also means you’ll be reimbursed 70-80% of the total cost of healthcare they provide. And the costs themselves are actually quite low! Specialists will often cost only 50 or 60 euros per visitation, and follow-ups seem to be included in this price.
So these are my five top favorite things! What are your favorite things? Let me know in the comments below. And if you want to experience these things and decide you want to move to France, check out my other blog posts, like how I moved to France. Decided you want to move but you want personalized help? Check out my services page, where I can give you a personalized consultation, resume and interview help, and much more.
