For administrative purposes, mainland France is divided into 96 departements, each with its own presence of the federal government at the Préfecture. Not only is that convenient for the elected officials in Paris but it’s also handy for comparisons when you’re trying to decide where you might want to live. Here on our blog if you click on the Tag “Where to live in France” (in the right hand column) you’ll see posts that have sometimes included that division in the results. Today we’re adding one more article to that list with the topic being “cheapest” since it’s about the cost of living while others have looked at factors such as healthcare, recreation, and weather. After all, it’s probably pretty inexpensive to live on a desert island but the quality of life might leave a lot to be desired.

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Long before we knew that we’d be retiring in another country, we looked across much of the US for the ideal place to settle. One option that we considered was a university town where we anticipated the excitement of a diverse environment, i.e., lots of different people with a range of ideas all open to discussion. Our visits to cities like this had shown us endless dining opportunities, a multitude of community events, concerts, films, plays, and art shows, plus—vital for us—being pedestrian friendly since we wanted to live without a car. That was a good idea as was our consideration of a beach house, living by (or floating on) a lake, or even going on-the-road full time in an RV as Bill’s parents had done for years. Then the possibility of retiring in Europe took the lead and here we happily are in a house that’s not on the water in a city that doesn’t have a university. Those thoughts persist, however, so when our local newspaper published an article called “What are the cheapest university towns in France?” I wanted to take a look.

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Disneyland is trademarked as “the happiest place on earth” and we would certainly agree that it’s fun. But what about the happiest place in France? To find that out took the combined efforts of a research institute, a think-tank, a national news source, and the railroad to interview residents of all 12 regions in mainland France. Over a month-long period 10,000 people were asked their opinion of their daily lives and about where they lived. To get an expanded view beyond the local area some of the 100 questions dealt with social ties, cohesiveness, and the country’s vision. The top finding was that 78% of the respondents declared themselves “happy” and within that, 38% were “very happy”. Satisfaction with the work/life balance was at 70% while general optimism about one’s own future ranked at 57%. And there’s more encouraging news.

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