This Historic French City Should Have Worked for 80 Nights

We spent 80 nights in Béziers and it forced us to figure out what actually matters in a place. What makes a place actually work for you? Four towns that felt completely different once we started walking them → https://youtu.be/xjmIcx4ZUdM

Beziers is a boring city. If you liked the vibrancy of Lyon, head to Nantes.

Wow this one got people talking, we get it with the trying things out too. We cannot wait to see your Bologna trip, something seems to tell us you may like Italy after your last trip to Tuscany 🙂
We have our 5 point “requirements” for our eventual “flag plant” location, learned a lot about Tuscany in winter back in Jan. Off to Malta in 2 weeks! Good luck you two.

The guy who was the best man at our wedding in DC, a French guy, moved to Beziers. We have stayed with him twice, in 2 different houses.
It’s definitely beautiful, but OMG the mosquitoes. I wouldn’t move there.

me encanto la toma de la ciudad en la lluvia . Bolonia si tengo mucha curiocidad por veros ahi … mi prefenecia hmmm bueno creo que depende de la edad prefiero el area rural de francia no es perfecta pero es lo que hay . Hasta pronto chicos les veo en bolognia

try Bordeaux!

We have a similar lifestyle and have had similar experiences (looking at you, Carcassonne). I recommend filtering for university towns, they're more consistently lively. Try Montpellier!

Try La Rochelle: Beautiful city, busy all year round, half way between Bordeaux and Nantes and just a stone's throw from "île de Ré"

If you're looking to find "home" you need to focus on making meaningful connections with people and organizations: clubs, sports, volunteer orgs, etc… You can't accomplish that in your current mindset. I'm moving to France next month and working with Ibanista … Ben provides truly effective ways for finding "home".

It sounds like you need to add more to your list if meeting all these great requirements still don't work for you. Also, if you want continual discovery, a smaller and affordable town will soon run out of new things to see. Hoping you find your spot soon!

oof you got some rough feedback here, but not all of it wrong. The thing that keeps you going out the door after you've done all the tourist exploration is the life you build. You're not going to find that anywhere when you're transient. Even in slow travel you are not building relationships and meaningful connections, to break up the daily life of grocery store and home over and over and that will be in every city you long stay. I spent my entire career in aviation/travel industry, a city is just a city without connection every city becomes boring and routine.. "wherever you go, there you are"

I respect your approach, and why not find a location with the best chance of keeping your interest? Florence has everything for me, but we go in low season. It’s not the same in busier times. You might look at Trieste. It’s pulling me back; love the Adriatic

Thanks for your vids. We will be moving to France (or Greece) in a couple of years. We've already done much of what you are doing now. It's not about being a retired or a professional tourist. It's about discovering what is life. I am not looking for novelty or experience. Living anywhere is more philosophical. Most everyone talks about stimulating themselves. The challenge I give myself is…… what do I offer and what can I give to the new community. How can I make my new community better. I definately would select a college town. If I am a musician, I can give music. Coming from California, I can give English lessons. As a painter, I can teach painting. Do I want to fix motorcycles? Do I want to do odd construction jobs. Do I want to start a small bakery or open up a small bar? Get a college degree in something. Go to school to learn French baking or wine making. All Americans have some talent they can share. In a small Greek island, we would spend time with elderly people and listen to their stories of their childhood on a small island. Maybe write a book or learn how to sail! Write children's books. When approaching your new life, it doen't have to be about you, but about those that will surround you. This is just my 2 cents and, hopefully, a different perspective.

La Rochelle😊

Bonjour. How nice to see the authentic view of your experience together. Only a few days from beginning my own journey. It’s valuable to see all of these perspectives you’ve been sharing. Beziers is picturesque and seemingly serene

My husband and I have spent several sabbaticals over the last 30 years in Montpellier. It's definitely more expensive than Bezier, but it is a real city and I think you'd like it.

I’ve enjoyed watching your travels through *France and your assessments! Looking forward to watching more of your adventures. I think it’s great you have a methodology when evaluating a place. Are all your categories equally weighted?

I’ve been looking at retiring in France. Beziers seemed appealing, but it seems to be very arid. The economy there is pretty bad, which affects everyone there. Thanks for your report.

Béziers has a fantastic concert centre, and a Cultura shop. Have you visited the locks yet?

We went to Beziers yesterday. It was clean, no grafity, no marginals with dogs, no beglers, no drunk person’s, no smell of drugs. Living in Montpellier, where we all have that, it really surprised me.

We moved to Nimes in May because it met a lot of our criteria but I’m not sure what your criteria is. What is your list of must haves? Enjoy your videos but moving every 3 months would exhaust me 😂