SAN FRANCISCO | French in the city | M6

San Francisco has never drawn so many French people: more than 60,000 arrived in 2017 to attempt the Californian adventure in the city famous for its counter-culture! It’s the favorite American destination for young French people. 9,000km from Paris, San Francisco lies on the American West Coast and enjoys an exceptional setting looking over the Pacific Ocean. The city center is on a human scale with its small Victorian houses and its famous steep streets. In San Francisco, temperatures are mild all year round, there are green spaces in every neighborhood and the unemployment rate hovers around 2%. In particular, thanks to the new technology giants that have set up in the region, such as Apple, Google and Uber, companies that are recruiting French talent at top salaries… people like 32-year-old Rémy, an engineer. However, El Dorado has its flip side. With the soaring number of new Silicon Valley millionaires, rents are exorbitant: 3000 Euros per month for a studio. So, lots of French in San Francisco opt for shared rentals, others live outside the city. In places like the Napa Valley, the “Bordeaux vineyard” of California, where Jeremy has settled. This 37-year-old chef has set himself the biggest challenge of his young career: he’s invested over 100,000 Euros in opening his first restaurant in a couple of days in the heart of San Francisco. Nathalie is an architect. Thanks to her “French touch”, this 48-year-old company boss has carved herself a golden niche amongst rich Californians, who want to revamp their villa with its incomparable view of the San Francisco Bay. Fabien changed his life a few years ago to become a surf instructor. Today, he wouldn’t leave his Californian dream for anything in the world. In San Francisco, more than one third of its inhabitants were born abroad ! We plunge into the most European of American cities.