Hey all! We’re back in Paris after our trip, and as promised, here’s an update from our last full day which we spent in Annecy, near the Swiss border and not too far from Geneva.
Also confirmed, if I could live anywhere, Annecy would probably be near the top of my list.
Enjoy the photos!
Following offspring #2’s university year, she came to France for a visit, and we spent most of our time taking a road trip through southern France.
Southern France, in case you didn’t know, is bloody hot and humid in the summer. (Just a little FYI for you there.)
We stayed at a campground on the Mediterranean, which unfortunately had the beach closed during our stay. Classic me, amirite?
Still, there was plenty to keep us busy. We took day trips to Nîmes, the “most Roman city outside Italy,” complete with its impressively intact amphitheatre (still used for concerts and events even today) and maison carrée, then on to Valensole, in the heart of France’s lavender-growing region (and purported location of an alien close encounter), then out to the edge of Montpellier to visit an oceanographic aquarium.
With a couple of days left, we’re planning a stop in Annecy, near the Swiss border—which, from everything I’ve seen so far, might just be the French town I’d most like to live in. Unfortunately, it’s too far from Paris to be practical, but I still like to visit whenever I can.
Anyway, here are some photos to give you an idea of what we’ve been up to.
So, everyone knows about the metric system for weights and measures that was introduced in France during the Revolution (I mean the one in the 1790s, not the Vendée Uprising, the July Revolution, the 100 Days, the Fronde, the February Revolution, the 1851 Coup d’État, the Bourbon Restoration or the other Bourbon Restoration).
And many people have at least heard of the French Republican Calendar from the same era. Coup of 18 Brumaire, anyone?
But did you know there was also a push to reinvent how to measure time itself? To ditch the 12-hour clock and 24-hour day and replace them with a decimal-based system of metric time?
Under this system, the day was divided into 10 hours, each hour into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds. That meant new time units like the centijour, or one one-hundredth of a day, equivalent to exactly 14 minutes and 24 seconds of old-fashioned time.
As you might expect, things got messy fast, not least because nobody could agree when it came to defining what a “second” actually was. That question was so thorny it wasn’t fully settled until the 1960s, when we landed on the modern definition based on the radioactive decay of a cesium-133 atom.
In theory, the system could have worked. Our 24-hour clock is just as arbitrary, after all, but people weren’t ready to set their clock-radio alarms* to 3.2 or to schedule their afternoon coffee break at 6.7. The metric clock, like the calendar that came with it, was ultimately swept into the dustbin of history.
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* Yeah, I know, 1790s… it’s a joke, people. Lighten up.
Oh, for…
Couldn’t figure out why I’m having a hard time working out where towns are in relation to each other & only now learn that there are actually 2 rivers, the “Loire” and the “Loir” that are completely different.
The Loir is a tributary of the Sarthe, which becomes the Maine, which is a tributary of the Loire.
Do better, river-naming people.
We’re coming to the end of our three-year sojourn in France, and it looks like my wife’s company may ask her to return at some point in the future. We had a chat about what that would mean, and we both agreed that if it does happen, we’d like to live somewhere a bit less… busy, let’s say, than Paris.
To that end, we’ve been visiting smaller cities within “occasional commuting distance” of Paris: places where her office is still accessible but the pace of life is more manageable. So far, we’ve done day trips to eight cities by train, scoping out the feel of the town, the shopping, the amenities, the neighborhoods, and the general vibe.
Here are some thoughts on the places we’ve visited:
Population: ~200k | Train to Paris: ~55 min | Cost of Living: Low | Green space: Good
Affordable and well-connected to Paris with some intact Roman walls and medieval streets, but parts of the city felt a little rough. I did a bit of digging and found that crime is a bit higher here than most other places on this list.
Population: ~300k | Train to Paris: ~1 hr | Cost of Living: Moderate | Green space: Very good
A lively university city with a growing expat presence. Walkable, attractive, and with more sunshine than Paris. Seems to have a solid mix of livability and culture without feeling overwhelming.
Population: ~300k | Train to Paris: ~1.5 hrs | Cost of Living: Moderate | Green space: Excellent
Pleasant city center dominated by the Château d’Angers. Feels clean, green, and family-friendly. Parks like Parc Balzac and Lac de Maine provide plenty of natural green space. Bonus point: Angers has a Ligue Magnus hockey team, which would give me an excuse to get out of the house once in a while.
Population: ~280k | Train to Paris: ~1 hr | Cost of Living: Moderate | Green space: Good
A city that clearly takes pride in its history: Jeanne d’Arc, the Hundred Years War, and more. The city core is attractive, though some surrounding areas are more built up and less inviting. It doesn’t seem to have a strong English-speaking or international community.
Population: ~135k | Train to Paris: ~1 hr 15 min | Cost of Living: Low | Green space: Good
A quiet town best known for its incredible Gothic cathedral, which towers over everything else, both literally and culturally. Vibe is more like a commuter town or stop on the tourist trail than a place with much daily buzz.
Population: ~130k | Train to Paris: ~1.5 hrs | Cost of Living: Low | Green space: Very good
A university town with medieval architecture and a modest cultural scene. It’s said to have a vibrant student life, but it was fairly quiet when we visited. The architecture gives it character, but parts of the city felt a bit industrial and gritty. I didn’t take many photos there because there really wasn’t much to look at since the château was closed off behind fences for restoration.
Population: ~190k | Train to Paris: ~1 hr 15 min | Cost of Living: Low | Green space: Good
A calm city with beautiful canals and remarkable floating gardens (hortillonnages – French link). Its cathedral is one of the largest in France. Much of the historic city was destroyed in the World Wars, so despite its long history it’s fairly modern looking. A new TGV link to CDG airport is reportedly in the works. Also, another bonus point since they also have a Ligue Magnus hockey team, which is more than Paris can say, so… go figure.
Population: ~1 million | Train to Paris: ~1 hr | Cost of Living: Moderate | Green space: Good
A much bigger city, close to the Belgian border. Probably the most high-energy and urban of the places we visited. We happened to be there during a spring festival weekend, and the public spaces in the city were packed. Affordable by Paris standards, but not especially quiet. Feels more like “Paris-lite” than a small-city retreat.
Closing Thoughts
We haven’t made any decisions yet, but some favorites are starting to emerge. Each of these places has its own strengths, quirks, and trade-offs. The challenge now is figuring out not just where we could live, but where we think we would enjoy spending the next few years.
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