Best city to live
 

While Paris seems like the most popular choice among American expats, I'm wondering which other European cities you would choose to live? This might not be your favorite city, but the place you may feel most comfortable, or where you speak the language, etc. I would pick London.

Other than Paris my second choice would be Rome. If you're including London, then that's not considered Europe.

"If you're including London, then that's not considered Europe".


Huh?

Beth:

What's your evidence for Paris being the popular choice among American expats?

Among authors and painters in Scot Fitzgerald's time, maybe. But they'd fit into a London phone box. Among the corporate honchos, temporarily transferred investment bankers, journalists, diplomats, academics and camp followers of all the above that actually make up the world expatriate community, aren't London's quarter of a million resident Americans far more numerous than the few J-P Sartre groupies living in Paris?

And, yes, much as some of us wish 'twere different, London is indeed in Europe.

I'd take London or Paris...love them both for very different reasons obviously but which ever one I lived in, I could frequently visit the other...just perfect...now if I could only figure out how to make it happen!!!

Montreux or Vevey because they are gorgeous settings, the Swiss are wonderful people, fantastically clean and organized country, and most importantly I have several friends who live there.

Roma!

No question - London. As others noted London is indeed part of Europe. I plan to retire there.

Almost any, including Philadelphia!

Monte Carlo.

Small, glamourous, friendly, safe.

flanner's right...most american companies have their european headquarters in the london area. therefore it is most popular with american expats.

francophile...i will lobby the webmaster to have your name changed if you make any more comments that show a complete lack of understanding of europe :-)

Referring to continental europe as just "europe" only makes sense when you are in the british isles. while not technically correct (as you are technically already in europe), saying you are going to europe when you are in the UK is an expression that is well understood to mean you are going to the continent. From stateside, you just look foolish trying to contend that london is not in europe.

i've lived in london, munich, paris, copenhagen, prague, boston, nyc, austin. london feels like home. it's dirtier, standard of living is lower, people are more miserable, weather is awful, transport is bad, it's horribly expensive, etc, etc. but through all this, it is still the best city in the world in my opinion.

Walkinaround, I really don't appreciate it your 'kind comments' to me and putting me on the spot for every 'error' I make. First this morning and now this evening.

I know that one time here I made a comment saying that London is in Europe. I was severely corrected that London is not part of Europe.

Francophile, who would say that London is not part of Europe. It is a city in the UK. What is the rationale behind all of that?

Some place in Spain...not sure where yet as I'm still "researching", but right now it would be between Seville and Barcelona.

Ok, I read walkinaround's response. Is that something like saying because Hawaii isn't continental US, it isn't the US. If so that is ridiculous.

sorry franco...all in good fun.

i was just putting you on the spot because you were confidently criticising someone else when you shouldn't have been.

tulips, read my post again. i was not saying london is not in europe, i was saying just the opposite.

I just asked someone who says that England may be considered to be in Europe geographically but actually it's not since it's an island that's separated from the continent. It is part of the EU but it has its own currency so maybe the opinions here are that England is part of Europe. But they are opinions only. So if you want to say it's part of Europe, I'll go along with you.

As to who I was I criticizing? No one. I made a comment this morning that eating a burger with knife & fork is tedious I had mentioned prior to that that in Denmark they do not eat sandwiches and burgers with knife & fork. If you say that in all European restaurants this is the case, I'm saying it's not. I asked someone who lives in Denmark-if that's how they do it there then it must be different than other parts of Europe.
Or was it because I happened to repeat what I was told-that England isn't part of Europe at the beginning of this post?

I do understand what you are saying. I guess I am not sure where francophile is coming from.

Tulips, I, too don't know where you are coming from.

No need to get punchy about it. Your post came up as I was typing mine. I get it now.

no big deal but since you ask...beth said her favourite city in europe was london. you corrected her that london was not in europe.

not just opinion that uk is europe. it is europe in every sense.

quote>>>
If you say that in all European restaurants this is the case, I'm saying it's not.
<<<<

of course I never said that and i don't believe that. all i said was that it is quite commonplace to see french people eat a burger and fries with a knife and fork...in response to your disbelief at this practice (despite your moniker).

Oh, give me a break about my moniker. What the hell is it with you and my name here? Will you just leave it alone now? As if 'walkinaround' means anything.

Personally I would say Oslo, Norway, but that might be because I'm living there right now and have my entire life :)
About the UK thing, as long as you are referring to the continent of Europe then UK is definately within it, consult ANY atlas. IF you are talking about "continental Europe" then most would say UK is not part of it, but the same can be said about the Nordic countries as well...

Sindre
(who eats his burgers at TGI Friday in Oslo with a knife and fork)

If I had my choice (with still keep my home here) Rome.

Um...Macerata, Italy? :) No seriously, If I had the choice, I would choose Rome, I think. Maybe London, but I like the chaos of Rome so much.

The other possibility would be Bologna, which is a wonderful city, and not so wrapped up in tourism that it's impossible to live there.

I do love Macerata though.

Jackie, when you get it figured out let us know! LOL.

I'm happy to put francophile03 in charge of the London in Europe thing... I'd be much happier if we weren't anything to do with Europe at all! We none of us like each other anyway...

I'd love to try living in Rome but not sure if the traffic would get me down.

As for the 'London in Europe' thing - flanneruk is correct in some that people in the UK refer to 'Europe' as if we were not part of it, but it infuriates me. So I stick to the good old-fashioned 'Continent' if I want specifically to refer to mainland Europe.

And I couldn't disagree more with Pollyanna (not a very suitable name in the context of these remarks, surely ?) - IMO, the sooner we are part of the United States of Europe, the better.

Caroline: Pollyanna may have been a happy little bunny but I'm pretty sure that she could have her own opinions too! 'United States of Europe'? The moment we start getting (further) dictated to by the likes of France and Germany, I'm getting the hell out of here!

Well, according to a couple of Fodorites, I am not a Francophile at all. They claim that my knowledge of France doesn't match my name.

This just because of my first comment regarding England not being part of Europe.

I guess I need to re-register with a different name.

And also because of my Denmark burger comment.

So many resident experts we have on board here it's so wonderful...

Just to clarify my comment on Paris being the most popular choice for American expats, I meant (and I was going to write) that that is the case from what we read in books and see in movies, etc. (The one expat I knw moved to Geneva.)

I think it would be Paris, but I might change it to Florence or Bologna or Rome.

But then again, Bordeaux sounds nice, as do Dijon and Beaune.

Or maybe somewhere in Provence, the Perigord or Auvergne.

London, London, London. Can you tell I miss London? ((a))

Ira: Rome???

I'd pick Venice because it's a small city on the water.....kinda like what I'm used to now. I also love the aspect of having no cars or scooters and everything being compact.