Eighty percent of managers and execs or “cadres” as they are called in French, who work in the French capital actually dream of leaving the city.
And these elite Parisians would be happy to put their money where their mouths are, with 54 percent saying they'd even be willing to take a pay cut to facilitate a move out of Paris.
A further 36 percent said they'd accept a lower position, and 48 percent said they'd even consider going through professional retraining for another career.
At least, that's all according to a survey by Cadremploi.fr that saw over 3,500 of these senior staff polled online.
So where would they all go if they ever left Paris?
Given the choice, 56 percent could see themselves living in the south-western city of Bordeaux, mainly due to its climate and proximity to the sea.
Close behind, 52 percent of people said they could also envisage a life in France's second city Lyon, and 49 percent saying they would be happy to call the western city of Nantes home.
Following these three cities, the most popular choices in order were Toulouse, Montpellier, Nice, Marseille, Lille, and Strasbourg.
Rennes in Brittany was also a top choice and the city was named by The Local this year as the best place in France for foreigners to live.
So why do these Parisians want to up sticks and apparently move anywhere else?
Well, it clearly didn't have anything to do with their salaries as they'll unlikely find better salaries than in the French capital.
Instead, it was more than they were keen to avoid the headache of public transport nightmares, which 70 percent of respondents complained about.
It must be noted that 83 percent of these respondents live in the suburbs, or banlieues, of Paris, so commuting times would be automatically longer than for those living inside the péripérique ring road.
However, 71 percent said they travel for more than 30 minutes to get to work.
A further 57 percent took issue with their rent prices, and 55 percent weren't impressed with the pollution level of Paris, which in the past has been compared to sitting in a room with eight smokers.
There was plenty more to complain about, in fact, with one in two saying life simply cost too much, 48 percent saying they weren't close enough to nature, and 19 percent saying they didn't feel “safe” in the capital.
Where would you go in France if you had to leave Paris?
If you are also tempted by Bordeaux perhaps the link below will help.
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