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How To Retire Without Money
By Bob Belmont
CHAPTER 10
FRANCE
Page 1 of 16
In a nutshell. France is one of the largest nations in Europe
both in area and in population. She has 213,009 square miles
and some 45 million citizens, and that makes her second only
to the Soviet Union in size, and to Great Britain in
population, this side of the Iron Curtain.
For probably the majority of Americans, France is the country
that first comes to mind when retiring abroad is mentioned.
This for many reasons but chief among them is the wide range
of offerings France makes to the person wishing the good
things of life. Scenically and climatically France rivals or
surpasses her neighbors and she is the admitted cultural
leader of the world. Paris, her capital, is so widely known
and loved that it would be redundant to describe the "City of
Light" here. The French Riviera, the Cote d'Azur, probably
boasts more retired foreigners than any equal area in the
world—and for good reason, of course.
But another cause for so many of us thinking in terms of
France when we contemplate retiring abroad is because in the
past France was one of the very cheapest countries in Europe.
Back in the "seventies" and the "eighties" it was indeed quite
possible to live in France, even in Paris, for $250 a week or
less. In fact, you could live in comparative luxury on $750 a
month and there were tens of thousands of Americans doing it.
Such a reputation did France build between the two World Wars
as a land where one could retire on a shoestring, that the
memory continues in people's minds until this day, in spite of
the fact that it costs 25 times as much to live in Paris now
as it did in 1938. Twenty-five times as much!
Paris is, of course, considerably higher than the balance of
the country but still the prospective American wishing to
escape the work-a-day world should think twice before picking
France as his home. That is, of course, unless he has a few
gushers bringing him in an income. It is possible to retire in
Paris and we'll end this
chapter with several case histories of Americans who are doing
it very nicely indeed, but I am of the opinion that there are
easier places in which to accomplish this end.
If you do find it possible to pick France as a country in
which to retire, then you'll find what good life can really
be. No place on earth do people eat and drink better than in
France, absolutely no place. No city in the world can boast
the cultural qualities of Paris. No place has the electric
air, the vim, the love of life that Paris breaths. It is no
mistake that she is called the City of Light.
And no country in the world exceeds France in the rich beauty
of her provinces. Name a few of them over to yourself, the
very pronouncing of them brings a feeling of glamour.
Burgundy, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne, Gascony, Alsace and
Lorraine.
§
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS. All you need to enter France, if your stay
is not to exceed three months, is a passport. If you plan to
remain longer than that you'll have to apply for a regular
visa from a French consulate. This will cost you about $50
(the amount may be changed by the time you read this) and it
will take up to two months to procure since the application
has to be forwarded to Paris for approval. You'll need several
passport photos. There are French Consulates in New York,
Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, Boston and
St. Louis. Or you can secure the visa at one of their European
consulates.
§
TRANSPORTATION. There certainly can be no difficulty in
getting to France. Probably half of the ships that cross the
Atlantic carrying passengers, stop at French ports. Prices for
ship passage between New York and Le Havre will range from
$855 on such student ships as the Waterman, Groote Beer,
Sibajak and the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, to astronomical
amounts for first class on such luxury liners as the Cunard
Queens, the United States, the Liberte, the Mauretania and the
Gripsholm.
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