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Latest update: 07/01/2010
- France - tourism
France tops magazine's poll of best places to live for fifth year
France was named the best place in the world to live by International Living, a US lifestyle magazine. The result seems to have split French public opinion: what do you think?
By FRANCE 24 (text)
For the fifth consecutive year, France has been selected the best place in the world to live by International Living magazine, a US-based lifestyle magazine for retirees wishing to travel or live abroad.
The magazine, which has been conducting the survey for 30 years, rhapsodised about France on its website: “Its tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes are outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life, including the world's best healthcare.”
The magazine declared, “you don't need number-crunchers to tell you its bon vivant lifestyle is special.”
International Living based its ranking on a point system, with each of the 194 nations being graded based on nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.
France scored the maximum rating of 100 in the categories of Freedom, Health, and Safety/Risk.
The French blogosphere reacted to France's victory with an array of opinions, ranging from elation to bewilderment. One proud writer for the largely user-generated Lepost.fr said, “We ought to bring this to the attention of Sarkozy, who’s always denigrating the French model!”
Others were cynical, feeling that the authors of the list had a tourist’s eye view. This Internet user wrote on the Liberation.fr site, “Of course an American or Japanese tourist coming here, being taken directly from the airport to the George V hotel followed by a top-flight restaurant, would find our nation magnificent.”
Rounding out the top five were Australia, Switzerland (“Jump on a Swiss train and you know you will arrive on time. Swallow a Swiss pill and you know it won't poison you.”), Germany (“the Harz Mountains now have a specialist hiking trail for nudists”), and New Zealand.
The US came in at number seven (down from third place in 2009’s rankings, which, according to the magazine’s editors, was due to increased hardships in the US following the financial crisis), and the UK came in at an embarrassing 25th.
The UK press took the blow very badly, with the popular newspaper the Daily Mail ranting, “Even former communist countries where unemployment is still rife are considered better places to settle down in than Britain,” referring to the fact that Lithuania and the Czech Republic had ranked 22nd and 24th, respectively.
At the very bottom of the list were Afghanistan, Chad, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia.
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Comments (17)
France tops magazine's poll of best places to live for fifth yea
You must be joking. I love France, but the conservative Media, the unlawful hatered on 10% of it's poeple (French Muslims), no matter how integrated. The corrupt police. The mega powerful special interest groups, the lack of jobs for "non" French (AKA not white looking. You must be out of your mind! Engalnd is cold, damp and ugly, but at least the Brits respect people.
Freedom?
France 100/100 for freedom? Sorry, I just don't get it: a country in which you have to carry ID at all times and produce certain car documents if you're stopped driving by the police, doesn't cut it for me after years living here. Try getting a regular job if you're an EU member but not French; as as for the unions - they only care about those in work and do their best to block opportunities for the unemployed. And don't get me started on the variety of non-French cuisine and non-French wine you can find here:OK France has world-class examples of both, but every now and then some variety would be nice. A wonderful place to live in many respects, but some way to go....
Living in France
A great place, wonderful people, excellent health care - but the cost of living is escalating alarmingly.
France
I am looking forward to experiencing it myself
Slow influx of Americans
Wrong buddy. Not just anybody can go to France. The French demand that you speak and write French to live study and work there. The same way Americans put everyone from non English speaking countries through English fluency tests especialy that annoying TOEFL thing for students. As far as I know most Americans will continue to see more immigrants coming to the USA because unlike France America represents freedom and the "IT" place to be. By the way America ranked 7th.
Vive la France
Du vin, du pain, du Boursin. Says it all. France is a charming, wonderful place to live (I lived in 4 departements,Provence, Haute Savoie,Somme,Oise, during 14 years and even started a successful business there). The health care is the best if you are a card carrying resident. But not expensive by American standards if you aren't.
France best place to live
>montmatre apartment and walk around money and i'm there<
I'd settle for Lyon or Provence.
France tops magazine's poll of best places to live for fifth yea
Bien sûr ; c'est bon
hmm
the health care system in France is NOT the best in the world. I lived and worked in Paris one year and for bureaucratic reasons never got any health treatment reimbursed. Japan is way better, and so is Italy for that matter, the difference being that the French boast about their system and other countries don't. France is also one of the most expensive countries, AND you have to cope with rude Parisians.
yes i agree the best style of
yes i agree the best style of life not sure about the health care but provence is the place to go for sure
France tops magazine's poll
Being an Englishman living full time in France since 2006 I would like to support the finding. I may be very lucky to live in an area which is wonderful, my French neighbours are simply great. I am sure that there are problems in French cities similar to the UK. However where I live I find I wake up with a smile every day. I love it. Stewart
living in France and living in France
Living in France for a couple of weeks is hardly representative of the actuality. Living here permanently can be very tiring. The bureaucracy is stifling and extremely frustrating, the healthcare system is superb but painfully expensive, the French people do not recognise this image of France and would say “why are the French the largest expatriate community in Europe”. The way of life is great if you can afford not to work, but then that applies to anywhere in the world. I can only assume that the survey was carried out on people that did not have to survive financially, just ask the ordinary French person what they feel and you will get a different story.
elegance nonchallantly achieved
montmatre apartment and walk around money and i'm there.
France tops magazine's poll of best places to live for fifth yea
I am Irish,my family and I have lived in South Africa, Ireland, England and the USA.We have lived in France,in the Centre Region since mid 2006 and agree with the result. I agree with Pres Sarkozy efforts to remind the French people of the traditional French way of life so that they do not lose it, as it is the old values still evident in France that make it special.Ireland and the UK have lost the traditional 3 "R's" Respect,Responsability and Reason.
hey
dis is a real nice picture u got there i will be there one day to visit it hopefully it is soon like sometime this year
France is thebest place to live!
We agree France is the best place in the world to live, especially the sunny South of France.
The South of France Guide
http://www.francesouth.com
France best place to live -
This is great news. Hopefully this means the massive influx to the USA will slow. Those who already have tickets can exchange them and head for France.
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