[Bevdeforges]

Stumbled onto this little gem in my online travels: 2010 Quality of Life Index

While it's flattering to see their comments on the "lifestyle" of our various homelands, it strikes me that all of the top 10 countries they cite are precisely the ones that are the hardest to get into - especially for retirees.

So, those of you in France - are we really living in paradise here?
Cheers,
Bev

 

[jojo]

Huh, wheres "sunny Spain" then?????????!!!!

Jo xxx

 

[GALLUS]

It’s Official – The Single Best Place to Live in 2010.

Ir is official, France has been picked as number 1 for single best place to live in the 2010 Edition of International Living magazine.

The news in French is here
C'est en France qu'on vit le mieux au monde - Société - 05/01/2010 - leParisien.fr

and in English here,
It?s Official ? The Single Best Place to Live in 2010 - an International Living Postcard

The methodology of ranking and assessment is explained in both articles. But it is rather funny that a foreign magazines ranks France as number one. Your opinion might differ of course and this is why I posted this thread... Ready to post?

Happy new Year to all members (and visitors).

Gallus

 

[Bevdeforges]

OK, maybe this thread needs a "sexier" title - but since posting it, I've seen several other references to this little survey on International Living.

On the French news channel last night, they cited the survey, basically saying that it was for all the "stereotypical" reasons that people claimed to love living in France - the food, the ambiance, the lifestyle, the wine...

Frankly, I was shocked that one of the factors they mentioned was "the cleanliness" - huh? I've always thought France as being rather dirty - here in the Paris area, most buildings and roadsides are noticeably sooty, and as politely as I can put it "the French notion of hygiene is a bit different from ours."

I also noted this little chestnut in there:

>>Romantic Paris offers the best of everything, but services don't fall away in Alsace's wine villages...in wild and lovely Corsica...in lavender-scented Provence. Or in the Languedoc of the troubadors, bathed in Mediterranean sunlight.<<

Not sure about this one. In some rural areas, services can be far away and difficult to access - public transit, for one. While I agree the health care system is very good, in some areas you can be hard pressed to find certain types of specialists, or even sometimes a basic GP, because a medical practice in Paris is far more lucrative. Distribution of doctors is definitely an issue in France (as in many other countries).

So, who else thinks this survey is perhaps a bit rose-colored? What specifics would you warn folks coming to France about that weren't considered in the survey?
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Guest]

Finally found the time to read it. Took all of five seconds. What a load of superficial twaddle. It should be illegal to write stuff like that - there will always be someone naive enough to believe it.

I'm very fond of France, but it's a long, long way from being the utopia the article makes it out to be. Cheap? Hardly these days - restaurant meals for 14€? That's true, but they're nothing like the quality they used to be. Cheap property? That must be why there's so much of it up for sale, and plenty of Brits are having to sell up because their sterling incomes no longer cover the mortgage.

Yes France has got a lot going for it, but that really does look like a report written by a trainee journalist who's never left Dublin. Trouble is these so-called surveys are guaranteed a good Google hit rating for some reason.

 

[maria0301]

Hi Bev, I definately agree with that poll.....Living in France is the best thing ever, just wish all the family could move out here, but you cant have everything.

 

[maria0301]

I must be that niaive person that FB is referring to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DWE]

As much as I love the UK for some reasons, the quality of life as most people would define it is certainly lacking.

Whenever I'm abroad in mainland Europe, everyone just seems generally calmer and more friendly. Although the climate does make a big difference. As does being out of cities.

 

[antsimpson]

Stumbled onto this little gem in my online travels: 2010 Quality of Life Index

While it's flattering to see their comments on the "lifestyle" of our various homelands, it strikes me that all of the top 10 countries they cite are precisely the ones that are the hardest to get into - especially for retirees.

So, those of you in France - are we really living in paradise here?
Cheers,
Bev

how can Paradise be a country that lives on past and future reports to assess someones life history. they dont seem to work on what happened the in current year!

 

[contentedscot]

Main thing I don't like about France - dogs. I can well appreciate people wanting a beast to deter burglars - but it would be nice if their owners trained them to stop seeing neighbours, postmen and people walking away from their property as threats.

Main thing I didn't like about the UK - alcohol abuse. Town centres at weekends can be very unpleasant at times - with people often encouraged to get drunk. Nothing wrong in being drunk per se - but when you see statistics regarding 80,000 NHS staff being assaulted every year then something is badly wrong with the UK in this respect. Pub chains can be very cynical - loud music so that people can't talk easily, so they drink. Not enough tables, so people have to keep their glass in their hand, so they drink more. I know that alcohol consumption in France is high, and that binge-drinking is coming, but I think there is still a lot of catching up to do.

Anyone agree/disagree?

 

[Bevdeforges]

Britain definitely has a problem with binge drinking. But so far I don't see that coming to France. The French seem to have a "thing" about being seen in public drunk. In 15 years of living here, I've only ever seen the homeless guys in the metro or occasionally the kids after a big football match who dare to be seen in public when they're under the influence.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[charlene_nz]

Oh I just love this reply!!
Yes I think it is about the stereotypical reasons aswell and yeah as for cleanliness wow!! coming from New Zealand I can say that France is really dirty - the streets, the pavements, and do not get my started on the toilets. I really do not understand how people can pee on the toilets and on the floor!!
Ok well this comment is not supposed to sound mean at all - so dont get offended - this is just a factual observation I have made.
As I remember reading this article myself I think france topped the list because of its health care system.
Char

OK, maybe this thread needs a "sexier" title - but since posting it, I've seen several other references to this little survey on International Living.

On the French news channel last night, they cited the survey, basically saying that it was for all the "stereotypical" reasons that people claimed to love living in France - the food, the ambiance, the lifestyle, the wine...

Frankly, I was shocked that one of the factors they mentioned was "the cleanliness" - huh? I've always thought France as being rather dirty - here in the Paris area, most buildings and roadsides are noticeably sooty, and as politely as I can put it "the French notion of hygiene is a bit different from ours."

I also noted this little chestnut in there:

>>Romantic Paris offers the best of everything, but services don't fall away in Alsace's wine villages...in wild and lovely Corsica...in lavender-scented Provence. Or in the Languedoc of the troubadors, bathed in Mediterranean sunlight.<<

Not sure about this one. In some rural areas, services can be far away and difficult to access - public transit, for one. While I agree the health care system is very good, in some areas you can be hard pressed to find certain types of specialists, or even sometimes a basic GP, because a medical practice in Paris is far more lucrative. Distribution of doctors is definitely an issue in France (as in many other countries).

So, who else thinks this survey is perhaps a bit rose-colored? What specifics would you warn folks coming to France about that weren't considered in the survey?
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Bevdeforges]

I have to admit that I suspect the survey may have been conducted among confirmed tourists and a few expat wannabees who haven't yet encountered the issues of actually moving to and living in some of these glamorous countries.

Not saying that life here in France isn't good. But getting to that point when you're coming from somewhere else takes a certain amount of "getting used to" the way things are here - the difference in hygiene standards, the bureaucracy and the regulation, not to mention the strikes and the general sleeze of government practices. Then, for some of us, there's that little matter of getting a long stay visa in the first place!

These surveys always leave me laughing, because it's precisely the people who go on about the "lifestyle" of France (or anywhere else) who are the first to howl when they can't qualify for a visa, or who huff into the mairie, announcing to the fonctionnaires that "I pay your salary!" and expecting to be treated like a "customer."
Cheers,
Bev