Bonjour Reader,

There's a TGV station in central Reims. Paris in 46 minutes. That's not a typo — and it might be the most underrated train connection in France.

Quick note before we go further: it's pronounced roughly like "Rance" — rhymes with "France." Not "Reems," not "Ryms." The French drop the ei and swallow the ms, and locals will absolutely notice if you get it wrong. Now you won't.

From My Corner of the World

With the World Cup arriving in North America this summer, I've had football — soccer — on the brain. And it got me thinking about something I genuinely love about France: you don't just get a new home, you get a team. Maybe two.

France has 18 clubs in Ligue 1 and 20 in Ligue 2 — 38 professional football clubs across the country. On the rugby side, the Top 14 has 14 clubs and Pro D2 has 16 more. Between football and rugby, you're never far from a stade with a real crowd, cheap beer, and locals who will happily explain the offside rule to you for the fortieth time. That's not a spectator sport — that's integration.

Speaking of which: Stade de Reims was relegated from Ligue 1 at the end of last season, after seven years in the top flight. They're in Ligue 2 now, hungry for the promotion spot they want back. If you retire to Reims, you'll catch them on the way up. There's something appealing about that — arriving when a team is motivated, finding your seat early. The ticket prices in Ligue 2 aren't bad either. Curious what's near other cities you're considering? This map of French football clubs is a great starting point.

📍 Hidden Gem

Reims, Grand Est

Thirty-three kings of France were crowned in this city.

You probably know Reims for Champagne. Both things are true — and both are reasons to take a closer look.

Reims sits in the Grand Est region, about 130 km northeast of Paris. Population around 185,000. Big enough to have real infrastructure — CHU teaching hospital, university, a proper tram system, a cultural calendar that keeps going year-round — but small enough that you'll know your neighborhood within a month.

The TGV takes 46 minutes from Gare de Reims to Paris Gare de l'Est. Direct. Some people commute. For retirees, it means Paris is a day trip, not a project. Épernay — the avenue de Champagne, Moët & Chandon, a full kilometer of historic Champagne houses — is 25 minutes by regional train.

Landmarks & local flavor:

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims is UNESCO-listed and one of the finest Gothic buildings in Europe. Monet painted it (a lesser-known series, after his Rouen cathedral work). If you live here, you walk past it on the way to the market. That doesn't get old.

The Halles du Boulingrin is one of the great covered markets of France. Art Deco, enormous, beloved. Wednesday and Saturday mornings. If you're judging a French city by its market — and honestly, you should be — this one scores very well.

The Champagne grandes maisons — Taittinger, Pommery, Veuve Clicquot — are in Reims, not Épernay. Taittinger's crayères are 4th-century Roman chalk quarries turned wine cellars, and they give tours and tastings year-round. Translation: your weekend plans are sorted.

Get outside:

The Montagne de Reims Regional Natural Park wraps around the south of the city — a 500 km network of trails through forest, vineyards, and Champagne villages. The GR14 hiking route runs through it.

The Voie Verte cycling path runs 44 km from Reims toward Épernay along the Canal latéral à la Marne — flat, paved, mostly car-free. You can cycle to Épernay, drink Champagne, and take the regional train home. I'm not saying you should do that every weekend. I'm also not saying you shouldn't.

Accessibility + day-to-day vibe:

Reims has a tram — a proper modern network that runs across the center. You can reach most of what matters without a car. Day-to-day life here is comfortable in a way that's hard to quantify. This is a functioning city, not a tourist destination with a residential area attached. People live here, run errands, have regular tables at restaurants. You'll fit in faster than you expect.

Affordability:

Reims is medium cost by French standards — not the discount that some smaller cities offer, but a long way from Paris pricing. A two-bedroom apartment in the center runs roughly €175,000–€275,000. Rent for a well-located two-bedroom: around €800–€1,500/month.

Context: you're 46 minutes from Paris. That pricing still makes sense.

📜 Taxes + Visa + Healthcare

Selling Your US Home After You Move to France

You've owned your house for 25 years. There's equity. There's a plan to sell it, put the proceeds somewhere sensible, and fund your French life. Then someone mentions that France might want a piece of that capital gain — and suddenly you're wide awake at 2am with your laptop open.

Here's the honest answer — and timing matters more than most people realize.

If the house is still your primary residence when you sell — meaning you sell it before or shortly after you move — France treats it as a primary residence sale and the gain is exempt from French tax. Your US exclusion ($250,000 single / $500,000 married filing jointly) also applies on the US side. Best-case scenario.

If the house is no longer your primary residence — say you've been in France for two years and the US house has been sitting empty or rented out — France can tax the gain as a foreign property capital gain. As your country of tax residence, France taxes your worldwide income and gains. The US does too (as a US citizen), but you get a credit for taxes paid to one country against the other.

The good news for long-term owners: France uses a sliding scale of abatements based on how many years you've owned the property. The capital gains tax (19%) phases out completely after 22 years of ownership. The social charges (17.2%) phase out after 30 years. If you've owned your house for 25 years, a significant portion of that gain is already sheltered — even on the French side.

The practical takeaway: if you can sell before you establish French tax residency, or while the house still qualifies as your primary residence, that's typically the cleaner outcome. If you hold the house after moving, the longer you've owned it, the more favorable the French treatment becomes.

As always — general information, not tax advice. This one has enough moving parts that a cross-border tax specialist is genuinely worth it before you make any decisions.

📺 France Must-Watch

Champagne Living, Affordable Price: Discover Reims, France

Fired Up in France — Suzi

My friend Suzi from Fired Up in France does some of the best grounded, practical video content out there about actually living in France — not just passing through. This one covers Reims, and she nails what makes it work as a retirement destination: the value relative to what you get, the Paris connection, the texture of daily life in a real French city. Fifteen well-spent minutes.

→ Watch Now

🏡 Real Estate Spotlight

€1,100/month (~$1,280) — Furnished 65m² Apartment, Central Reims

65 square meters. Furnished. Near Place Royale — which puts you a short walk from the cathedral, the tram, the market, and the heart of daily life in Reims. At €1,100/month, this is a proper apartment in the center of a real French city that happens to be 46 minutes from Paris. That pricing still makes sense.

"Furnished" matters more than it sounds — especially for a first apartment after the move. You're not shipping furniture across the Atlantic. You arrive, you unpack your bags, you walk to the Halles du Boulingrin on Saturday morning. Life starts immediately.

→ View Property Details

That's it for this week. À bientôt, Tommy

PS — Has this newsletter helped you think differently about retiring to France? I'd love to hear your story. Leave a quick testimonial here — it means a lot, and it helps other Americans find this community.