Escape from Paris and London, is there really "poetry and far away"?

The latest data released by France's Insee shows that Paris has lost more than 60,000 residents in recent years, and the trend of "fleeing Paris" has not stopped since 2013. Especially after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, "remote work" has accelerated the departure of more people from Paris.

Pictured: Shropshire, Shropshire, Uk. Image source: European Times UK edition

"The pandemic has acted as an accelerator," said Viade, a sociologist at the Centre for Political Studies at france's National Centre for Scientific Research, "we are in the midst of a wave of change where people want to make life meaningful." ”

According to the European Times, the haze of the epidemic in Paris last February was not over, and Guillaume "fled" from Paris with his wife and three children to Annecy for a vacation, and they returned to Paris a week later. After another 4 months, they returned to the small town of Annecy, but this time not for a vacation, but for home. Guillaume said they had been thinking about leaving Paris before coming to Annecy. In Paris, he pays 2600 euros a month for a 90㎡ apartment, and now their house in Annecy is more than 130㎡, the mortgage is less than 600 euros a month, and the terrace and window have more mountain views. "Now when I talk to you, I have the sun in my eyes and the mountains in front of me."

After arriving in Annecy, Guillaume continued his work through remote work. "Statistics Bureau data shows that more than half of executives who leave Paris have not changed their jobs." A November 2021 survey also showed that the epidemic is accelerating the shift from big cities to medium-sized cities, with nearly three out of ten residents living in the greater Paris area wanting to move away from the capital, Viade said. In addition, the search for a better quality of life is also what motivates families to leave the city, "especially when these cravings are amplified." ”

But is it really good to move to the countryside? In the UK, the answer can be disappointing.

According to official UK figures, 40,000 Britons "fled the city" in 2012, and by 2025, the rural population in England will grow by another 6%. But not everyone can afford to move to the countryside, and the British environment department said that British families who can afford to move their families to the "countryside" are generally relatively affluent classes, which depicts the increasing cost of living in the British countryside. The well-known British media also used the title of "country life will squeeze out your wallet", warning those who have a blind vision of rural life that "living in the countryside costs an average of 43,000 pounds a year", and weigh the "money bag" before leaving.

Harvey and her husband moved from London to Shropshire a few years ago. Her personal experience shows that real British country life is far less leisurely, and that the problem is not just "money". Harvey said that when living in London, she had to consider high prices, school difficulties, urban pollution, and the time spent on the commute every day, a series of "unhappiness" that made her and her husband decide to stay away from the city. Before arriving in Shropshire, she imagined village life: on a long afternoon, the family was comfortably roasting a fire, eating their own baked cake, and the children would collect beetles, bird's nests and wildflowers along the way during the walk...

However, when the Harvey family moved into the countryside, she "accidentally" found that the dream of blossoming fields did not appear, and the field outside the door was overgrown with weeds, accompanied by rats. Who says country taverns are good and cheap? A family of four went out for lunch and received a bill of £85. Rural life is far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, there is no endless flow of traffic, but there are big trucks that roar through and roll up all the way to the dust, and it is inconvenient to buy anything, and you have to drive everywhere...

After spending six months in the countryside, Harvey says she has begun to miss the pace of city life and busyness. Whether it was right or wrong to move to the countryside, she was still searching for answers.

Xinmin Evening News reporter Mei Yingdi