As she sips on coffee at a cafe in southern France, Chiara Adorno’s ears prick up at the sound of the native accents around her and a smile spreads across her face.
Despite living in the region for nearly a year, she sometimes feels like she’s “walking into a fairy tale” when hearing some of the everyday French words and phrases she’d previously only really seen in books or movies.
“When I came here, I was crying tears of joy,” Adorno tells CNN Travel. “I am so thankful to be here.”
Adorno, originally from Connecticut, left the US for France last October, and admits that this decision had been a long time coming.
After going through “a number of careers,” including as a lawyer, a filmmaker and an artisan breadmaker, Adorno had become tired of the “work, work, work” culture in the US and was looking for an escape.
She says she was ready to “to explore a life without work” and felt that it was the right time to leave.
“I knew I wanted to be out of the country before the (2024 US presidential) election…” she explains. “I’m somebody who’s learned to be very proactive.”
Seeking inspiration
Adorno, who was based in Californian city Vallejo at the time, goes on to explain that she felt as though she’d done everything that she wanted to do in the US and was ready to move on.
“I need to be looking forward,” she says. “I need to have goals. I need to have stuff that inspires me. I just was no longer inspired by anything in the US, and I don’t see that changing.”
Although she’d only visited France once — a brief trip to Paris back in 1994 — Adorno had learned French in high school and college, so had some familiarity with the language, and was a big fan of the country’s landscape and architecture.
She was also keen to explore more of Europe and felt that France would be a good base from which to do so.
“I want to travel around and explore many European countries and beyond,” she says, pointing out that she has Italian heritage.
“I have not done nearly as much travel as I would hope outside the US and now I have the opportunity to do that.“
Adorno discovered that she could qualify for the France long-stay visa, which permits non-EU nationals to remain in France for over 90 days, and can be renewed annually.
“I retired a little bit early because I knew I could live on and qualify for the visa on the amount that I would get monthly from social security,” she explains.
Once she’d made the decision to leave, Adorno “gave away, donated, or sold” most of her possessions, including items she’d been holding onto for decades.
“It was so freeing,” she says. “Say I had a bureau that I loved, but it was from the 1990s. I was like, I’m no longer that person. Now somebody else is enjoying it.”
In October 2024, at the age of 66, Adorno set off for France, bringing her two beloved cats Willy and Puccini along with her.
“I bought an extra seat for them,” she says. “It was quite the experience but the airline staff enjoyed the novelty, I think, and made sure we were comfortable.”
The trio flew from San Francisco to Paris, where they continued on to the city of Montpellier in the south of France.
Unsure of where to settle, Adorno decided to hire a car and “slow travel” around France, staying in Airbnbs with Willy and Puccini, until she found a destination that suited her best.
Adorno fondly recalls the first time someone said “Bonsoir,” or “Good night,” to her, adding that “It felt like something out of a book.”
Tragic turn
They traveled to various different spots across southern France, including the picturesque village Teyran, where she stayed for a month, beach resort town La Grande-Motte and Avignon, a medieval village on the Rhône.
“Each time I am falling in love with my new destination,” she says.
Sadly things took an unexpected turn in April, when they traveled from Avignon to Marseilles.
Willy “had asthma and she had a bad attack…” Adorno says, explaining that she didn’t realize anything was wrong until she took her pet out of her carrier when they arrived. “I couldn’t save her.”
After leaving the US with two of her cats in tow, Adorno was faced with the realization that she would have to continue on with just one.
“It was horrible,” she says, adding that she found a kind vet who helped her arrange for Willy to be cremated.
“I can get really attached to my pets… I still grieve over it.”
Despite her sadness, Adorno continued on with her adventure and relished being immersed in French culture.
Puccini, who Adorno describes as “a little tank,” remained at her side, and the pair went on to travel to the historic town of Pézenas, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, where they are currently based.
Big adventure
“I do the Airbnbs in two-month increments,” she explains. “Because I want to just really take in where I’m at.”
Adorno points out that, as pets aren’t welcome at some properties, she tends to stay in “rudimentary-type places,” which “don’t have a lot of cushiony stuff that cats can destroy.”
Of all the destinations she’s visited in France, one in particular has stood out to her — the port city of Marseille, which happens to be the country’s oldest city.
“Marseille was a revelation…” she says, explaining that the “fun” and “vibrant” destination, known for its famous landmarks like the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, reminds her of Manhattan in the 1980s.
“I will probably end up living there permanently.”
Adorno adapted to life in France quickly, and says she learnt early on that “the French weren’t as “aloof” or “nearly as romantic as Americans think they are.”
She particularly admires the fact that people actually talk to each other while socializing outside restaurants and cafes and are “not on their phones.”
“The French actually love to talk,” she says, explaining that she uses Google Translate to communicate as her French is “terrible,” but plans to “buckle down” and “become a French speaker” in the near future.
“I have found them most engaging.”
When it comes to cultural differences, Adorno says she’s found that people tend to have less spatial awareness in France.
“People will bump into you, where you’ve seen them 20 or 30 feet away,” she notes.
Adorno has also noticed that there is seemingly less focus on work, pointing out that “nobody asks you, ‘What do you do for a living?’”
“I’m not wealthy at all. I’m living on social security” payments, she says.
“But I wish everybody in the US, or even everywhere in the world, had the chance to understand and to experience what it’s like to be in a society where you are valued as a human first.”
‘Perfect fit’
Now that she has more free time, Adorno has been able to indulge in various new hobbies, such as painting watercolors.
She also enjoys going on hikes to the Calanques, the famous network of ancient coves with limestone cliffs located along the coast between Marseille and Cassis, and visiting the beaches along the Corniche, three roads along the French Riviera.
“That is all the product of not being in the rat race,” she says.
Adorno, who suffers from a chronic illness which causes pain and bleeding, is full of praise for the French healthcare system, and says that she’s treated like a “Fabergé egg” there.
She points out that this is a welcome change from her experiences in the US, where she was constantly worrying about “falling into medical debt”.
However, Adorno admits that navigating the notorious French administrative system has been difficult, recounting how she dedicates herself to “getting something done with the bureaucracy” each week, and continuously encounters issues.
While she found socializing in the US to be “very expensive,” Adorno says that it’s quite the opposite in France, where she can enjoy free entry to landmarks such as the Cantini art museum and the historic Abbey of Saint-Victor.
“I felt a little bit of trepidation about how my days would be without work to ground me and keep me on a schedule,” she admits.
“But my days are filled, although that is still a work in progress. No one has things all figured out when you make such a huge change.”
While she has no intention of returning to the US, Adorno makes a point of keeping up with what’s happening in her home country, conceding that she’s often alarmed by what she sees.
“I do doom scroll a little bit too much,” she says, referencing the decline in the US dollar, which recently experienced its worst decline in the first six months of a year since 1973. “Only because I’m so freaked out…
“Wouldn’t you know, at this time in my life where it should have been wine, watercolors and stuff. It’s like, ‘Well the US is crashing and burning and that’s where your money comes from. So good luck with that.’”
Adorno explains that she was “waiting for the dollar to stop slumping” before leasing a property in France, but has ultimately decided to bite the bullet.
She’s currently looking for a one-bedroom rental in Marseille for her and Puccini, who is “quite content” in France.
“I want to be near the Calanques so it will perhaps be a more modern structure,” Adorno says, adding that she’d need to be closer to the city center if she “wanted to have the old-world charm.”
Adorno is hugely grateful to still have one of her furry companions with her, admitting that the memory of losing Willy “still causes heartbreak.”
As she nears the end of her first year in France, Adorno couldn’t be happier, and says she’s thrilled to be in a place where she’s feels as though she’s valued for who she is rather than her productivity.
“As a retired person, as somebody who wants to just enjoy life, I couldn’t have picked (better),” she says.
“Maybe there’s other countries in Europe too. But overall, France, for me, is the perfect fit.”
Reflecting on her life in the US, Adorno remembers constantly hearing the response, “busy,” when asking others, “How are you?”
“If you’re free, people are almost like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” she says.
“Busy is code for, ‘Everything’s great.’ You’re a success. You’re doing well. And I’m so happy I’m not busy.”
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