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