The Expat City Ranking 2021 ranked Paris 51 out of 57 cities. Paris is often maligned as a city where it is difficult to make friends, people are rude and life is miserable.
Todd Foreman said: “Living in this city is at times like living in a beautiful museum. People from all over the world are drawn to this dramatic, glamorous city and I feel lucky to be here.”
Another thing expats seemed to love was the French work culture.
France workers work some of the shortest hours of any countries in the OECD.
And workers’ protection is extremely strong.
British expats found it was faster to get a GP appointment in Paris than in the UK.
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It wasn’t all perfect however, with bureaucracy difficult to navigate.
Jess said: “The bureaucracy takes a little bit of time to get used to. It took us a year to get into the health care system, but once we were in it seemed to work very well.”
Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but when it came to healthcare, it was pretty cheap.
This wasn’t the case of the property market, with Paris ranking fourth most expensive city in the world.
Cliches would have everyone believe Parisians are the main problem of Paris.
A French magazine even did a cover this week asking why everyone hates Paris.
The headline read: “Country folks, rural folks, coastal folks and even Parisians… why everyone hates Paris.”
Expats tend to agree, with many describing Parisians as “rude”, “xenophobic” and even “dirty”.
The French notoriously don’t speak English, or more accurately refuse to speak English, as English is taught to French children from primary schools in some cases.
Rameez Sayed said: “Parisians are unfriendly, rude and always have a resting bitchy face.”
Pat Hallam, meanwhile, said: “Paris residents exude unhappiness in their own lives and take it out on expatriates as a means to lift their own spirits and provide a target for their animosity.”
And Paris is not the most romantic city in the world either, with Erin Gould saying: “Dating here is brutal. It’s the least romantic city you can imagine.”