Although not directly related, I read two articles—one dealing with longevity and the other with the best cities for people over 60—that were published about the same time. Not only is life expectancy in France higher than it has ever been—85.6 years for women and 80 for men—it’s also healthier. For both genders, according to the government’s health statistics office, DREES, the proportion of disability-free life expectancy at age 65 has increased by at least 50% since 2008, meaning that over half of the years after 65 are expected to be healthy ones. However, even with universal healthcare where everyone should have equal access, some social inequities can still have an impact.

Three years ago we wrote a blog post about a survey of 10,000 French adults asking them about their level of satisfaction with where they were living. Nearly 80% of the respondents declared themselves “happy” and almost half of those were “very happy”. Now a different company has undertaken a similar study with an indication of where within the country you might find the most contentment. On average, that “happiness quotient” has increased to 86% with the region of Bretagne at the top and our own Occitanie right behind. Let’s look at some additional parts of the country and find out what makes an area attractive.