London and Paris–the most exciting, dynamic cities in Europe… it’s a shame London is about a gazillion times more expensive.

International Living Postcards– your daily escape

Friday, Feb. 24, 2006
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Dear International Living Reader,

For my money, London and Paris are the most exciting, dynamic cities in Europe. Over the past 10 years, Vicki and I lived for a short time in London, and for much longer periods in Paris. Why so much longer in Paris? Because London is about a gazillion times more expensive. [ Ed. note: It's true--check out International Living's "Fight Week" Index 2006]

London has obvious advantages, mainly the language. Probably for that reason, it’s Europe’s number-one tourist destination for Canadians and Americans. Plus, London has theater, doctors, and waiters we can understand.

But the cost difference is staggering. The English charge rent by the week, instead of by the month, and a week’s rent in London is the same as a month’s rent in Paris. Similarly, a weekly bus/tube/rail pass in London costs only slightly less than the monthly pass in Paris.

The Nicholas wine shop chain has branches in both cities, and carries the same labels…but the London stock costs double. Last time I checked the duty-free liquor shops in London airports, they were charging more for duty-free liquor than what you’d pay on the street in any other country I know of outside Scandinavia.

In a Paris restaurant you can get three courses for $18 (no kidding–check out my Paris restaurant picks). In London, $18 gets you a beer and a couple of those pie things that are not so much unpalatable, as unrecognizable. London comes out on top for diversity and creativity in food at the high end, but whether eating out or at home, I prefer Paris. As a Frenchman once told me, "It’s not so much that we’re better cooks, it’s that we take our food more seriously." I took a cooking class in Paris in our local community center and delighted in our chef’s basic assumption. "We do it this way because we’ve always done it this way. We’re French."

London has better theater, and better jazz and cabaret (all in English, a huge advantage–no matter how good your French is, you’ll have trouble with the rapid-fire delivery of Parisian theater). London has better pubs, better real ale. The English tend toward a cheerful disposition, with a wonderful let’s-get-on-with-it attitude about life. You’ll be made to feel at home right away in London, whereas in Paris only the Arab cafés will welcome you straightaway.

We’ve never been treated in the English health care system, but Vicki and a few close friends were hospitalized in Paris. We believe French health care compares with the world’s best. People complain in Britain not so much about the cost and quality of health care, but about the delays; we’ve never heard of long delays in Paris.

To buy an apartment costs far more in London than in Paris, although the boom in both cities might be coming to an end. When the air leaks out of the property bubble–I don’t think the bubble will burst–you may be able to find better value.

Paul Terhorst
For International Living

P.S. If you’re traveling around Europe, it’s easier and cheaper from Paris by train, and from London by plane. Tip: Because of a special English tax, a round-trip London-Paris Eurostar ticket costs substantially more if you start the trip in London than if you start it in Paris.