How Much Do You Really Know About France?

Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008

Read more about France in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

Dear International Living Reader,

Suzan and I sat in the morning sun at a sidewalk cafe in the Montparnasse section of Paris, finishing our breakfast.

“It must be the air in France,” Suzan said, buttering the last bite of a fresh baguette. “Or maybe the water. Whatever it is, this is the best bread on Earth.”

I’d just finished most of a breakfast baguette myself, and I had to agree. In France, the simplest things seem to take on magical qualities. Like bread and coffee. The most basic breakfast in the world…yet the French can turn it into a minimalist feast. The bread is that crusty and chewy and salty and sweet. The coffee is that smooth.

I’ve found much of France to be like that. The rolling hills and green fields of the French countryside should be just like any others on Earth. But they are French hills and fields, and for that reason alone they seem to glow with a special something that sets them apart.

It’s an indescribable feeling, and, of course, the French have a phrase for it: Je ne sais quoi. It literally means, “I don’t know what.” As in, “There is something about these hills and fields that makes them special. I can’t put my finger on it…it’s a certain Je ne sais quoi.”

Leave it to the French to make what you don’t know about something the very quality that makes it worth knowing.

And France is worth knowing.

For example, even though France is the No. 1 tourist destination on Earth, most people think it’s too expensive to live in France or own property there. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. (See Steenie Harvey’s report on buying and investing in French property in IL’s new France: The Owner’s Manual here.)

When Steenie was researching properties in France to update our Owner’s Manual, she found great buys like these:

• An $89,000 village house in Champagne-Ardenne, a region of France that has lakes, woodlands, and medieval art towns…and, of course, Champagne

• A farmhouse in another famous French wine-producing region for $53,000

• A two-bedroom apartment an hour from Paris $145,000

• Even a two-level stone barn with water and electricity ready for renovation…in the foothills of the Central Massif, a region that inspired Monet and other Impressionist painters…for $21,500.

And remember, this is France we’re talking about…not Nicaragua or Panama.

And Steenie didn’t limit herself to the countryside, either. Research on France is not complete without a mention of Paris, and Steenie found bargains there too. Like an apartment in the arty district of Montmartre for less than $200,000.

But back to Paris...

I’d like to tell you what Suzan and I paid for that baguette-and-coffee breakfast in Montparnasse…but I can’t. I was in too good a mood to pay attention to the bill that morning.

But I can tell you that it didn’t cost us a thing to stroll for hours afterward in the Montparnasse Cemetery.

That’s right…it sounds morbid, but even French cemeteries are different. People actually have picnics in them. And our stroll through the one in Montparnasse took us past some pretty distinguished residents…like Jean-Paul Sartre, Man Ray, Porfirio Diaz, Samuel Beckett, and Guy de Maupassant.

That’s the kind of place France is…a place where a stroll past the final resting places of famous existentialists, Mexican presidents, and artistic giants is just a natural part of the day.

How can I describe the feeling you get there?

Ah, yes…it has a certain Je ne sais quoi.

Stay happy and healthy,

Dan Prescher
Publisher, International Living

P.S. If you’re thinking about buying property in or moving to France, you should know that nobody does “quality of life” quite like the French. In fact, France has topped International Living’s annual Quality of Life Index for the past three years. France has the best health care system in the world, a first-rate infrastructure, incomparable cultural amenities, a high level of safety, and a strong economy. And now’s the time to buy. You’ll find Steenie’s report here.