Happy New Year

If your New Years Resolution is to move to France, then here are a few good reasons for doing it...

1. French Food is Fabulous

If you love food, you will love France. That's all there is to it. It's the simple things like visiting the local produce market for fresh finds or the nearby bakery for divine fresh-baked baguettes. It's the incredible cuisine at restaurants, from Michelin-starred chefs to humble but impressive family-owned cafes. France takes food seriously, and it shows.

2. It's Easy to be Healthy

Sure, people smoke and it's easy to eat fattening foods. But just compare the obesity rate in France to the U.S. In France, it is easy and, in fact, encouraged to be active. Most French cities and even villages are very pedestrian-friendly, and there are tons of outdoor activities. It's also a simple lifestyle and attitude thing in France. It is nothing to see a French person opt to take stairs up a few floors rather than wait for an elevator. The health care system here is also cheap and high-quality, and even prescription drugs cost a fraction of the price in America.

3. You Get to Experience French Culture

The French culture, as bashed as it can be from time to time, is unique and fascinating. It's always a good experience to live in a new culture if for no other reason than to develop and grow as a person. The French place importance on many things that actually are important: taking time to enjoy life, spending time with family, long lunches and even longer dinners. Even if you relocate for just a few months to France, you will always be affected by the slower pace of the French lifestyle.

4. Great Location for Travel Junkies

If you love to travel, France is the perfect place to live. You have such a diversity of destinations within France, from rural mountain villages to big cities and beaches. France also borders several other great European countries, making trips to Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. all within reach.

France and the Spanish Border

Tastes of Spain can be found in the Southwest of France, where the rooftops are dappled in gold and and orange as the sun beats down. The Languedoc-Roussillon's regional fare reflects the intensity of the Pyrenees Mountains in the area.

Hearty dishes like cassoulet, consisting of Toulouse sausage, duck and white beans, are served with robust red wine. Locals speak with a certain Spanish roll to their Rs, instead of the typical nasal French pronunciation.

5. Buy Great Wine for Cheap

If you are a wine aficionado, France is an ideal place to live. Buy table wines that would cost £5 or more for pocket change at your local market, and buy fine wines for a fraction of the price you would pay for a French import. Better yet, find regional wines such as blanquette, the real first sparkling wine, or the unique wine and Armagnac blend found in floc.


So now all you have to do is find a place to rent or buy in the Roussillon.


Bonne Annee 2010