Next Saturday will be the annual Fête de la Musique all over the country. From the smallest villages to the biggest cities in France, organized events share the space with spontaneous pop-up celebrations among neighbors to “make the party” as they might say here. One year we happened to be in Bordeaux on June 21. From our vacation rental balcony we could look to the left (photo in this paragraph) and see revelers spilling out of restaurants and bars, filling the street and to our right where a dozen apartment dwellers were beckoning us to join them on the sidewalk below where they had set up a DJ booth and a table top bar. Guess where we ended up?

Being a positive person, I was surprised when I saw the title of a study conducted by Silver Alliance and Retraite.com, both French companies that investigate topics important to senior citizens. They called, what seems to have become their annual survey, “How much does it cost to be old in France?” When we ask friends a question that might not have a definitive answer, the response we typically hear is, “Ça dépend” (That depends) which I think could apply here depending upon your definition of “old”. We’ll look at the details below but for a cut-to-the-chase answer, you’ll need an annual income of 15,000€ to live a comfortable retired life in France.