This video isn’t about prices, politics, or systems. It’s about what daily life actually feels like after living in Colmar, in the Alsace region of France, for about two months.
When I talk about “France” on this channel, I’m talking specifically about Colmar, the same way when I talk about the United States, I’m talking about my part of it: Taunton, Massachusetts. Small city to small city. Real life to real life.
This isn’t a vacation highlight reel or a shiny Instagram version of anything. It’s about atmosphere, pace, noise, walking, stress, and how all the small details of daily life quietly add up.
You’re welcome to have a different experience or a different opinion. Just keep it civil. This channel is about observing and learning, not arguing or tearing people down.
Thanks for watching, and if you want to keep following along as we figure this out, there’s more coming.
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We’re an American family of four leaving the United States to start a new life in (or around) Colmar, France — trading the stress, high cost of living, and endless work hours for peace, charm, and small-city life.
On Chaos to Croissants we share the real experience of moving abroad with kids, covering:
🇫🇷 Moving to France as a family
💶 Cost of living in France vs USA
🏠 Finding housing in France
🛒 French markets & local food
🎓 Education & healthcare in France
🚲 Life in a walkable, bike-friendly city
If you’ve searched for “how to move to France,” “expat life in France,” or “cost of living in France” you’re in the right place.
📍 Small city life • 🥐 Real stories • 📹 New videos every other week (I’m trying)
37 Comments
I your kids goes to college Victor Hugo I made my college years there
Love hearing your words. Very much our retirement experience, although in a bigger town in Portugal. Much less “emotional armor” for sure. Great that you are looking at this for your kids for a total change in perspective at their young ages.
Good to hear you are recovering but it sucks to be sick over the holidays. Keep sharing I enjoy hearing about your life in Colmar.
Hello from Mulhouse, Alsace about 40 kilometers from Colmar.
Get well soon. This is only the second video of yours that I've watched, so I don't know if you're aware that Auguste Bartholdi, who sculpted the Statue of Liberty in New York, was born in Colmar. There's even a small 12-meter replica of it in the city. Colmar is twinned with Princeton. Happy New Year and best wishes for good health.
Hello from Pau, in Southwest France at the base of the Pyrénées. My husband and I retired here just over a year ago, from Southern California, after many vacations in France over the years. I completely agree with your experiences here in France. For example, it also took us awhile to get used to cars stopping the moment we approached a crosswalk!
Beyond that, I want to tell you how much I enjoy your videos. The way that you articulate and deliver your thoughts are almost poetic and quite soothing to listen to. I subscribed as soon as I stumbled on your channel a few weeks ago.
This video is awesome. I like feeding the hope of one day moving abroad!
Colmar is beautiful around Christmas!😍
Welcome to France. I have been living in France for more than a decade. I totally understand what you mean on the video. I also feel the same way.
By the way, there are many beautiful cities, French cuisine and culture things to explore here.
I wish your family and you settle down smoothly and enjoy the life in France.
Hopefully, your family and you speedy recovery from the flu. Take care!
Oh the last thing i wanna say that I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for the good work.
It is indeed a difficult end to the year in terms of epidemics, with many people suffering from flu, colds, and other illnesses.
If you stay, you will see that it is not like this every year; this year is colder and wetter than usual, which is why there are more people ill.
It's worth noting that if you join the "social security" system, you can get vaccinated every year for the new flu strain.
There may still be a few very cold days in January, but it's generally drier and sunnier.
Enjoy your stay!
Nice video and ambience. The reason why cars slow down and stop at the crossing is because pedestrians have the priority over cars, bikes, etc.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Thanks for sharing
Enjoy Colmar it is a very nice part of France.
Well done from a fellow Massachusettsian …! 😊
Très belle vidéo, humaine et simple. En temps que français on ne peut qu'être fier de ce que vous dites de notre pays
pourtant perfectible !mais aussi de vous avoir chez nous. Soyez heureux ici. Vivant plusieurs mois pas an en Italie je serais intéressé par votre expérience d'une langue nouvelle … Bonne année 2026.Sorry for your relative being sick during christmas holiday. Just a funny thing : for anyone working in france and covered by "la sécu", if you fel sick during your holidays and go to see a doctor, your employer must refund back your days of holiday lost for being sick, as the days are converted to "sick days" (arrêt maladie).
J'habite Lorient en Bretagne et, en tant que français, je trouve vos vidéos flatteuses et vraies pour Colmar. Je suis né à 1h de l'Alsace et c'est une région ou il fait bon vivre d'autant plus dans une ville à taille humaine comme Colmar. Malgré tout il y à certaines choses que vous envie aux USA, j'en reviens juste après 15 jours de vacances durant les fêtes pour aller voir mon frère qui habite Natick MA, et la première c'est Home Depot 😂 J'ai eu l'occasion d'en visiter un et c'est incroyable. A ma connaissance il n'existe rien d'équivalent en france. Un magasin qui propose autant de références différentes dans un même endroit c'est le paradis du bricoleur! Après, comme vous l'avez précisé votre pays est si étendu qu'un endroit ne peut pas ressembler à un autre. Je suis passé en Georgie et en Caroline du Sud et la différence entre des villes comme Atlanta ou Savannah est colossale. La campagne entre ces cités est également un autre monde. J'ai trouvé les conducteurs de ces 2 états très courtois alors que ceux du Massachusetts meritent leur surnom de "masshole". Ils ressemblent un peu à nos Parisiens ou nos Lyonnais. En tous cas bien venu dans notre beau pays (pas toujours partout) et plus généralement en Europe. Vous aurez sans doute l'occasion de voyager dans certains d'entre eux et vous pourrez vous rendre compte que la vie y est également plutôt douce … si l'on à assez d'argent pour en profiter
J'habite à Colmar et c'est la plus belle ville du MONDE !!!
Bon je suis français et chauvin et j'assume !!!!
@chaostocroissants welcome to Colmar. Ping if you need anything. I’m local
Looks like you enjoy our city 😎
Hope you fell welcome in Colmar, and enjoy life 😀
Time to think, time to notice what you see and hear. No rush, no stress, no wary glances as if someone might shout in a supermarket. Children free in parks and schools, their laughter carrying in the air, local shopkeepers greeting with easy hellos and goodbyes, drivers patient and respectful. Colmar feels like a truly wonderful place to live, calm, welcoming!
Sounds a bit like Massachusetts seventy years ago. We walked everywhere as kids. I walked alone two blocks to kindergarten. The food market was not very big and you could walk there in less than ten minutes. Yes, we had a car. Used it occasionally. Shopping malls had not been invented yet.
Hi!
I juste found your channel, it's very interesting to have your fresh point of view about France and Colmar lifestyle 🙂
I work at colmar, and leave not far, that will be a pleasure to discuss with you and if you need some support during your stay. Fill free to ask.
je ne connais pas Colmar, on m'a déjà dis que c'est très beau
get well soon and ofc Mes meilleurs voeux pour la nouvelle année.
Greetings from Strasbourg
A fun fact about the covered market : the buiding is from the 1850's and was turned to a parking lot back in the 1960's or 1970s. 15 years ago, the city council decided to close the parking and turn it back to a market again !
it s a law that you must stop if the pedestrians indicate that he wish to cross the road on the crosswalk
It's such a lovely town and the villages around it are also worth a visit.😊
Really refreshing perspective! Life abroad isn’t just postcards, it’s the rhythm, the pace, and all the small things that add up.
Bonjour! Im curious to know your level of French speaking ? My husband and I are looking to move. And I fumbled at A2, although I managed.
Yes in France, we say "Pedestrians always have priority". This means that legislation is almost always in favor of pedestrians, not cars.
Be careful if you knock over a pedestrian with your car, even slowly and outside a pedestrian crossing, you could be in big trouble.
That doesn’t mean that pedestrians should not be vigilant and can cross without looking, because accidents always happen. But indeed, it's especially up to the car to be even more vigilant and it must stop if a pedestrian is going to cross.
Conversely, when pedestrian are crossing, it's quite nice to give a small hand signal to thank the car that stopped 😉
And regarding bicycles and modern electric scooters… legally you are considered as a car, and you must drive on road and comply with the same rules as cars.
It can be a problem today, because France is not historically a cycling country and does not have the infrastructure dedicated to bikes, like in the Netherlands for example.
The absence of roads dedicated to bicycles therefore forces (since the rule is to do like a car) bikes to ride on the road rather than on the sidewalk. But it can be really dangerous sometimes.
Bikes are therefore stuck between the two : too dangerous to drive on the road, but at the same time very annoying to drive on the sidewalk, sometimes narrow, where pedestrians have priority.
I'm a cyclist, and I admit that I prefer when I have the choice to ride on the sidewalk. And even if I go very slowly every time and some pedestrians can grumble, I prefer that to driving on a road too dangerous due to the gap of speed between bikes and cars.
Well spoken and presented for an American
And New England is the most Europeanish part of the USA…
And most of French find our cities too stressful!
In many European countries – probably in France as well, I suppose – cars have to stop at crosswalks for pedestrians by law (pedestrians have the right of way at crosswalks). So, the drivers you laud aren't necessarly particularly considerate or friendly, they're just law-abiding. And those who don't stop for you are actually lawbreakers…
Colmar is a lovely city. I had a short break in Mulhouse and visited Colmar for the day and it was beautiful and relaxing to walk around.
Bonjour, je viens de m'abonner 😊. Vous avez choisis une très belle région. J'habite au Pays Basque mais originaire de l'Isère. Je vous souhaite toute la réussite possible pour vous et votre famille. Très bonne continuation.