France cycling over, stay here?

jDear friends and family,

Both Liz and I have left France behind for now, she back to Port Townsend and me to Italy. 

As we slowly rode our way through southern France, we kept opting for lingering and staying longer than originally planned as we so thoroughly enjoyed touring here.

The French cycling system is quite developed, even in the bigger cities like Bordeaux and Toulouse, less so in the medium cities, but the drivers seem like the best I have ever seen to pay attention to the bicyclists sharing the road with them. I am guessing that it has something to do with the large number of cyclists and the popularity of cycling in this country. My recollection is of an event every July here that has to do with cycling that keeps millions of people paying attention.

We enjoyed the people, the food, the scenery, the history and even the weather. Touring France (southern) in the winter turned out to be a great idea and was everything and more than I could have imagined. 

It is an odd time to be here in a country that is called “socialist” by many in the US, at a time when our democracy is at risk, tilting towards authoritarian government.

Since I am now an expert (smile) having spent almost six weeks in France, I’ll share some thoughts about differences between countries AND why I might consider a longer stay, like retirement, in France.

The shooting (and discussions around anger towards)of the CEO of a healthcare company in the US is not really understood by the French people I’ve discussed it with, because here the thinking is that healthcare is a right of every person. Yes, they pay premiums into the system from their wages, but significantly less than the cost to US citizens into ours. Then when using it, is is basically free. The complaints here are many about waiting periods and shortages of doctors, but over the premise that it is and should be easy and a human right of citizens. They do not comprehend that in the US 42% of people that get cancer under the age of 65 have to declare bankruptcy due to medical bills. It’s like they think I am lying when I explain our system that causes this. 

I am over 65 years old, so a member of Medicare, but pay significantly for my glaucoma medicine per month. We (Liz and I) have to fight every year with insurance companies just for her to get preventative care checkups. 

A retired American could stay here in France on a retirement visa (you just have to show regular passive income of over about $1700 per month) and then once you stay for over six months, can buy into the French health care system for about $200 per month and the dental system for about another $32 per month. After that your “co-pay” is some ridiculous amount like one euro for drugs and thirty euros for a hospital stay. As my health care needs grow with aging, it is something to seriously consider. 

I understand that I am very privileged with my ability to pay out of pocket for these things now, but with the incoming administration and their target of reducing Medicare and drug benefits it doesn’t look to be getting better.

I also have concerns about the reduction in Social Security benefits. I have followed the formula that I coached clients on for many years of maximizing the monthly benefit (like waiting until age 70 to draw) with the assumption that it was too politically dangerous to reduce benefits so it wouldn’t be done. I feel foolish now that I was so naive.

Even with a reduced benefit, I can live a pretty good life, as long as I live in a lower cost area. I explored Colombia, but way too hot for me.

How about France?

I’ve already discussed the medical savings here, but there are many other benefits to France:

Housing costs: the rents and costs of real estate have supposedly doubled since Covid, but they are still about half of what they are in the US. Half!

Food: I do believe that the quality of food here is better than in the US. The standards for chemical additives are better regulated here, and I cannot imagine what will happen in the US with less regulation coming.

Meals out: it is less than half of the US cost. The price on the menu is what you actually pay, tax is included. If that savings wasn’t enough, there is typically no tip added. The whole tipping thing in the US has gotten out of hand and one gets shamed if not leaving a 20 percent tip even on carry-out food. Add in the added tax and tips and the meals are about a third of US cost. 

Another shooting this week in the US. That’s the 84th mass shooting this year! Wow, this one wasn’t even done with an AR-15 assault weapon, only designed to kill people. I actually don’t have the fear of being near large crowds here, worried about a mass shooting. 

The French have guns. A lot of guns. The difference is that they are regulated here and they do not have assault weapons. In the US, we pray for shooting victims, but do nothing about the root causes. 

If I lived here, I would probably not own a vehicle. The public transportation system is excellent (yes, the French complain about this as well-seeing the pattern here?) and with buses and trains one can travel throughout Europe cheaply and easily. What a pleasure getting to relax while someone else drives. (See my next blog for an exception to that!)

All that being said, I haven’t yet found a part of France that I would live in. I suspect it would be either in the Alps or along the Brittany or Normandy coasts, but not on the plan to visit this winter. Future plans, yes.

What’s not to like?

Well, the French government is “falling apart” as I’ve been told by locals and seen on the TV. It seems the cost of providing all these services to make life better and safer are becoming unaffordable and the costs need to go up, the work week might need to be get longer than 35 hours and the retirement age was just raised from 62 to 64 with a huge fight. 

Probably the biggest negative for me is the smoking. It seems that every other person smokes here (actually the number is 33% of the population) and every outside cafe is frequented by smokers so if one (like me) doesn’t care for second hand smoke it is necessary to sit inside, which is fine in the winter, but for summer?

In my research I’ve heard of other reasons that expats leave France after trying it. One is the language. A lot of people speak a little English, but is you were to stay here you would have to speak the language. For me, this is a plus as I speak a little now and really enjoy learning more. The six weeks here have helped my skills a lot and this would be a positive for me, not a negative. It has been a highlight of touring France for me.

No Amazon deliveries: In Alaska it is almost the only way to get something with the arrangement Amazon has with the US Post office. If retired here I think I could learn to buy less and find it in stores instead of online.

Government inefficiency: one of the biggest complaints of locals and expats alike. I think I am pretty good at navigating these types of systems and since I have time on my hands, cannot see that it would be enough to sour me completely. 

Getting a retiree residence visa is not the same as a second (EU) passport. That process takes a lot longer, but not impossible. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the USA and wouldn’t give up that passport. I now think that what I thought would be a more and more socially supportive system (socialist is what I would be called in the US now) I find that we have turned towards Oligarchy, with the billionaires ruling and ordinary citizens losing rights by the day. And about half of my fellow citizens voted for this change, which seems to put themselves and their families at great risk…. I really don’t get it. I’ll get to say ” I told you so” if I choose to, but I won’t. 

Proposed cuts or eliminations to Social security, Medicare, bank regulations, environmental regulations, Affordable Care Act, abortions, women’s health issues, just to name the first round of proposals, make me think that I am an outsider and don’t quite fit in anymore. 

So, I continue to look at other options as I travel on this long tour. 

If I had a little mini-chateau here, would you come visit? Stay awhile?

Sending love,

Charley

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5 thoughts on “France cycling over, stay here?”

  1. Yeah, what’s not to like! Glad you gave us an overview of living in France. Wish things could improve here. Anxious to hear about Italy. Love, Lynne

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