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Which part of south-west France is the top ‘dream destination’ to move to?

It has experienced one of the biggest population increases based on inward migration, while its main town is the number one destination that French people dream of moving to.

Published: 15 January 2024 16:54 CET
Which part of south-west France is the top 'dream destination' to move to?
La Rochelle, on August 11, 2019. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

Known for sandy beaches, delicious oysters and the lively coastal city of La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime has become France’s ‘go to’ département.

The département was home to 661,404 people in 2021 (the most recent population data) in comparison to 635,682 people 10 years prior. 

Charente-Maritime saw a population increase of 0.6 percent in the past year, in comparison to a decline in the neighbouring département (Charente), which saw a decrease of 0.1 percent.

MAP Where France’s population is rising – and where it’s falling

But the data shows that its population increase is not based on the ‘natural’ demographic balance (the difference between births and deaths) – simply more people are moving there. 

By 2030, Le Parisien reported that experts expect to see the number of households in the département grow by 1.08 percent compared with 2023.

Where are people flocking to?

Many people have moved to La Rochelle, the largest city of the département. About 80,610 people live there, which is 3,000 more than there were 10 years ago. Meanwhile the French capital of Paris has seen a steady fall in population over the last 10 years, with 120,000 fewer people living there compared to 2012.

A 2021 OpinionWay poll found that La Rochelle was the top city French people intended to move to – followed by Ajaccio in Corsica.

After La Rochelle, Saintes, the historic inland town, boasts the second most inhabitants in the département, followed by Rochefort, located along the Charente river near the coast.

The area is not only popular amongst French people. Based on pre-Brexit data from 2016, around 40,000 Brits lived in Nouvelle Aquitaine (the region containing Charente-Maritime), though many opted for nearby départements of Charente and Dordogne.

However, it did not rank as highly among Americans – Nouvelle Aquitaine came in fifth place in terms of French regions where Americans choose to live.

Why move to Charente-Maritime?

When analysing the reasons French people gave for moving, a 2023 study found that cost of living was one of the greatest factors. As such, more people were opting for affordable, small to medium-sized cities and towns, and Charente-Maritime is home to several.

Despite the market slowdown in 2023, demand for real estate has also continued to increase in Charente-Maritime. In 2022, its largest city came in eighth place nationally for the highest 20-year increase in real estate prices.

READ MORE: Will 2024 be a good year to buy property in France?

“We’re almost more expensive than Bordeaux and Nantes”, Edith Girardeau, a notaire in La Rochelle, told France Bleu in December 2023. “The attractiveness of the area has meant that prices have risen,” she explained.

According to reporting by BFMTV, La Rochelle was a particularly popular choice largely because of its close proximity to Paris, being only three hours away by high-speed train. 

On top of that, the city has a “temperate climate, high-quality infrastructure, dynamic cultural life, and of course it is on the coast,” one relocation expert told the French news channel.

The city has much to recommend it – an attractive historic centre, sandy beaches, good shops, a lively nightlife and an extensive calendar of festivals including the huge summer music festival known as Francofolies.

It’s also home to the very successful Stade Rochelais rugby team (current European champions) – among the many foreigners who have made La Rochelle their home is the team’s Irish coach Ronan O’Gara, who last year went viral with his dressing room team talk, delivered in distinctively accented French with a few ‘f bombs’ chucked in. 

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PARIS

Street art stars invited to ‘invade’ Paris fine art museum

Some 60 of the world's most renowned street artists have been invited into the rarefied confines of Paris' Petit-Palais museum, creating their own additions to some of the famous artworks displayed there.

Published: 12 June 2024 12:40 CEST
Street art stars invited to 'invade' Paris fine art museum

The famous Petit-Palais museum on the banks of the Seine houses an illustrious selection of 19th-century painting and sculpture.

But the We Are Here exhibition sees the street artists infiltrate it with graffiti, murals and graphics dotted among the portraits – even adding cartoon wings to statues.

Some merge almost too well – a freshly made portrait by Tunisian artist DaBro looks perfectly at home in a cluster of solemn 19th-century street scenes until you realise it features break-dancers.

Others are more obvious, such as the pixelated alien by the French artist Invader sitting above a Monet sunset.

It is, say some of the artists, a logical step.

Paris has embraced street art with a 2023 exhibition of street artworks at City Hall being extended due to popular demand while the walls of one of the tunnels along the banks of the Seine has been given over to street artists as a permanent but ever-changing canvas.

“Street art always has the spirit of invasion. We always want to take over spaces that are not open to us,” said Inti, a Chilean artist who provided a huge mural.

But the exhibition has also made him question himself, he told AFP: “To enter into a closed space like this is to enter into an institution – it’s a bit counter to what we try to do outside.”

He was concerned, too, that street art has become too commercialised, undermining its rebellious spirit.

A painting by US artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who started out in street art before moving into galleries, sold for $110 million in 2017; a shredded artwork by Britain’s guerilla street artist Banksy went for $25 million in 2021.

Hush, a street artist from the north of England, agrees that art movements die when they become too accepted by the establishment.

But its ethos still challenges the elitist atmosphere of galleries, he said.

“As a working-class guy, you don’t always feel accepted in art museums. With street art, everyone feels allowed to come in,” he told AFP.

“And you can still be disruptive, you can still have fun. The good thing with being from this scene is you don’t feel like you have to say yes. It means we’re still in control.”

One of the first items to strike visitors is a giant aerosol can emerging out of the ground with cartoon wings, courtesy of London-based artist D*Face.

“It represents the fact that we’ve been buried underground and often overlooked and now we’re coming up to be seen,” he said.

The timing is right, he added, with France plunged into political turmoil this week by a far-right landslide in European elections.

“Urban art is really the first global art movement. You go anywhere in the world and there is a street art community,” said D*Face.

“It’s all about inclusivity, whereas politics right now is trying to divide us.”

Also present is Shepard Fairey, aka Obey, renowned for his “Hope” posters for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

His “Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood” shows French figurehead Marianne with a blood-red tear running down her cheek, made in response to terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015.

“The thing I love about street art is that it brings people together, it’s got a generous spirit,” he said. “Anything that makes people think about their common humanity rather than selfish protectionism is very valuable for this moment.”

But can street art maintain that political relevance if it becomes too accepted by the elite?

“We’ve been saying street art is dead since its inception and it has kept evolving,” said Hush.

“But it has come full circle. Street art was against the people who could say yes or no.

“And now they say yes to us.”

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