How is it to live in France
Most people who have visited France like the country especially The French Riviera.
Many think it could be wonderful to move to France.
But how is daily life in France/The French Riviera?
Why France? Is it good to live at the Riviera?
Most people would agree that France is beautiful, but The French Riviera is amazing.
The nature is fantastic with the mountains, the greenery and the Mediterranean Sea and not to forget the beaches.
At the Riviera you will also find a lot of picturesque medieval villages with beautiful, old town houses, cozy squares, fountains, cozy restaurants, cafés, galleries, shops etc.
To mention but a few you have Saint Paul de Vence, Mougins, Villefranche sur Mer, Eze Village, Roquebrune Village, Le Haut Val de Cagnes etc..
The Riviera offers of course bigger cities, whereof Nice is the biggest and then comes Cannes and Antibes.
Some like to live near the beach and others prefer the back country.
Thanks to the mountains you can have sea view from many places at the back country too.
The weather in the South of France is also one of the main reasons, why people decide to live there.
The sun is shining nearly every day, but thanks to a little rain now and then, we have the greenery, flowers etc.
One other wonderful reason to live at the Riviera is the food, which is wonderful most places.
The Mediterranean food is amazing and healthy with a lot of fish, vegetables etc, and we love it.
But you can find everything so it is just a matter of taste, what you prefer. For many people in France the wine is a big part of the life.
Everyone knows, that France produces fantastic wine in all ranges as well as the neighbor country Italy.
We must say, that living in South of France is just to enjoy the life with the sun, the nature, the food and the wine.
At the Riviera you will find all categories of sport, and it´s an area, where there are extremely many golf courts.
The Riviera also offers a lot of festivals, exhibitions, congresses etc. It offers also a lot of glamour and lifestyle.
The life in France is more relaxed than many other places.
People are enjoying life, food and wine, and stress is not very popular here!
That also means, that you can´t necessary expect, that a French person will be on time for an appointment. But you learn to deal with it.
The Riviera is also interesting for another reason, and that is, that many places are so different.
You have the most fashionable places with celebrities, high end shops, restaurants etc. But you have also the opposite and the more relaxed in the middle. .
The same with the nature. You have the soft, green mountains but you also have the raw rocks e.g. the Esterel Mountains west of Cannes and they are so impressive.
And then you also have very flat areas which is beautiful as well.
The cost of living is not expensive but cheaper than many other places.
You can find a very high standard of meat, fish and vegetables.
Nice Airport is the main airport, and it offers many flights to all over the world. But in Mandelieu just outsite Cannes you will also find a smaller airport for private jets etc.
The Riviera offers many harbors for yachts. The biggest is Antibes, but Cannes and La Napoule is huge as well.
How are the French people?
Many says they are snobbish and don´t speak English.
That is not true! In general, French people are extremely polite. But they are very formal. E.g. they don´t only say “Bonjour”.
They say “Bonjour, Monsieur” or “Bonjour, Madame”. If they enter a shop, they always start with “Excusez-Moi” (will you excuse me) before they ask something.
If you ask a French person “do you speak English” they think you are extremely unpolite.
You have to ask in French “Excusez-Moi, parlez vous Englais” (excuse me, do you speak English).
But many French people are perfectionists. That means that if they don´t feel they speak fluently English, they prefer to say they don´t speak English.
But that is not true in most cases, and you will find out that most French people speak English very well.
In a way we say, it is more important to learn to know the French culture, than to learn to speak French.
When this is said, it is of course a good idea to learn the French language even if for most of us is difficult!
It is wonderful to live at the Riviera. You have everything.
But of course you have to find the best area for you depending of your wishes and needs.
You can find very good areas but also the opposite. That´s really important not to take a wrong decision.
When it comes to prices on real estate at the French Riviera in general it has been much more stabile than many other places
thanks to the fact that not many permissions for new buildings are given. In the high end we can say that the most expensive
areas are Cap Ferrat, Cap Martin, Cap d´Ail, Cap d´Antibes etc. They are all amazing areas to the Mediterranean.
Most places are secure, but it is always a good idea to have an alarm and security system.
We have an extremely good local knowledge all over the Riviera during more than 20 years, and you can benefit from our experience.
Give us a call at.+33 64 06 16 500 or sent us an email at info@mmfo.eu
We are at your service at phone no. +33 64 06 16 500 or +33 64 39 14 317
