Where in France would you belong?
Built for Americans planning a retirement in France. Nine questions about the life you want — we match them against 55 French towns and cities, scored from official French data — sunshine hours, doctor access, real property prices, hospital drive times — and show our reasoning for every match, including the honest tradeoffs.
No email needed to see your matches. Every fact is sourced and dated.
Browse the towns
Fifty-five places, researched in depth
Every town carries a full profile — the feel of a week there, honest think-twice reasons, and the practical numbers from official French data. Start anywhere.
Where winter stays bright
Ranked by winter light — sunshine hours, rain days, mild mornings.
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Nice 2,761 h of sun a year -
Antibes 2,761 h of sun a year -
Menton 2,761 h of sun a year -
Marseille 2,898 h of sun a year -
Cannes 2,743 h of sun a year -
Montpellier 2,705 h of sun a year
The easiest trip home
Ranked by the trip back to the States — airport drive, nonstop routing, and the rail leg.
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Paris Paris CDG · 35 min · nonstop U.S. -
Annecy Geneva · 45 min · nonstop U.S. - Nice Nice NCE · 15 min · seasonal U.S. nonstops
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Chambéry Geneva · 1h05 · nonstop U.S. - Antibes Nice NCE · 25 min · seasonal U.S. nonstops
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Reims CDG by train · 30 min · then nonstop
Where your dollar goes furthest
Ranked by real prices — DVF sale records and asking rents.
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Eymet €1,506/m² to buy -
Carcassonne €1,400/m² to buy -
Bergerac €1,584/m² to buy -
Périgueux €1,842/m² to buy -
Perpignan €1,638/m² to buy -
Sarlat-la-Canéda €1,826/m² to buy
Life without a car
Ranked by car-free livability — daily needs on foot, real transit.
- Paris car-free livability 100/100
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Lyon car-free livability 100/100 - Marseille car-free livability 100/100
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Bordeaux car-free livability 100/100 -
Toulouse car-free livability 100/100 - Nice car-free livability 100/100
An English-speaking circle, ready-made
Towns with a verified anglophone scene — every one individually cited.
- Paris American-anchored scene
- Eymet British-anchored scene
- Lyon American-anchored scene
- Bordeaux American-anchored scene
- Nice American-anchored scene
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Aix-en-Provence American-anchored scene
Seaside that lives year-round
Coastal towns ranked by year-round life — the ones that don't close in November.
- Marseille 3% second homes
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Vannes 8% second homes -
La Rochelle 14% second homes - Nice 14% second homes
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Sète 22% second homes -
Saint-Malo 27% second homes
Mountains out the window
Ranked by how close the high country really is.
- Menton Grammondo / Ligurian ridge above Menton · 4 km
- Nice Mont Férion · 15 km
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Grenoble Belledonne · 21 km - Chambéry Chartreuse · 25 km
- Antibes Montagne du Cheiron · 26 km
- Aix-en-Provence Luberon · 27 km
Or by geography
Every dot is a town on the roster — hover for the essentials, click to open its page.
All fifty-five, by region
Bretagne
- Dinan 14,764
- Quimper 64,385
- Rennes 230,890
- Saint-Malo 47,439
- Vannes 55,790
Grand Est
- Colmar 66,970
- Nancy 103,671
- Reims 177,674
- Strasbourg 293,771
Hauts-de-France
- Lille 238,246
Île-de-France
- Paris 2,103,778
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Occitanie
- Albi 51,290
- Carcassonne 46,080
- Collioure 2,756
- Montpellier 310,240
- Narbonne 57,587
- Nîmes 151,839
- Perpignan 121,616
- Sète 45,337
- Toulouse 514,819
- Uzès 8,519
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Aix-en-Provence 149,695
- Antibes 77,637
- Avignon 92,188
- Cannes 74,350
- L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue 20,244
- Marseille 886,040
- Menton 30,604
- Nice 357,737
- Saint-Rémy-de-Provence 9,599