The Longest Day of the Year (and One of the Hottest!)

SUMMER SOLSTICE

Yesterday was the longest day of the year, and it was also one of the hottest.

I have a love-hate relationship with this date. It means that from now till December 21st, we’ll lose light just a bit every single day, and light is what I live for. The saving grace is that all of France celebrates it with Fête de la Musique.

This year, sunset in Paris was approximately 9:58 p.m. with civil twilight continuing until about 10:43 p.m. There will still be usable daylight well after sunset. In Nice, the sun will set at approximately 9:15 p.m., but you’ll still have good light until about 9:45 p.m., and civil twilight doesn’t end until around 10:00 p.m.

The main reason there is such a difference is longitude, not latitude. Paris is about 5.6 degrees farther west than Nice. Since the Earth rotates 15 degrees per hour, every degree of longitude corresponds to about four minutes of solar time: 5.6° × 4 minutes = 22 minutes. The remaining difference comes from the fact that Paris is also farther north, and near the summer solstice, northern locations enjoy significantly longer daylight hours.

And the temperatures were way up there. Yesterday, the high was around 101°F, with a low around 75°F. In other words, this is not just a warm Paris weekend—it’s more like a hot summer day in New Orleans, Houston, or Phoenix lingering well into the night. Fortunately, it’s my kind of weather! And fortunately, I have a portable air-conditioner at home that just pipes out the window, but works very efficiently to keep me cool as a cucumber…at least when I’m inside at home!

FILMING OUR 60TH EPISODE

Before we took to the streets to hear music in the hot air, I filmed my 60th episode of House Hunters International on the streets of the 19th arrondissement and, believe it or not, Saint-Denis…in the hot air.

When the producers asked me to do the show, I was very hesitant to agree to filming in Saint-Denis. “I can’t recommend a client live in Saint-Denis,” I explained. “What about our reputation as property consultants?”

The producer is someone with whom I have worked for many years, maybe as many as 15. She explained that the “contributors” were two young women, one French and one Scottish, who had a very limited budget. The French woman had grown up in the 18th, a northern district adjacent to Saint-Denis, and it was much easier to find spacious apartments in Saint-Denis for the money, than within the Périphérique (the city ring road).

I did a some research on Saint-Denis and discovered a whole new world. I knew that the area has benefited enormously from the Grand Paris redevelopment project, but hadn’t discovered it for myself. Saint-Denis has undergone one of the most dramatic transformations in the Paris region over the past 30 years. What was once known primarily for industry, social housing, and the famous basilica is rapidly becoming a major university, media, film, and creative industries hub. The Olympic Village, built for the 2024 Paris Olympics, has been converted into housing, offices, schools, parks, and neighborhood services.

The biggest development is the creation of the new Université Paris 8 Vincennes–Saint-Denis campus and the arrival of the massive Campus Condorcet. The campus has dramatically increased the area’s student population and intellectual activity.

The film and television Industry is where Saint-Denis has become especially important. The former industrial district known as Plaine Saint-Denis has become one of France’s largest audiovisual production centers.

There are new transport links, particularly around the Saint-Denis Pleyel Station, that have dramatically improved access to central Paris and other suburbs. Housing remains significantly more affordable than in central Paris, now attracting younger professionals, first-time buyers, and investors.

In short, it’s on the rise, but Saint-Denis is still not the same as living in the Marais, the 7th arrondissement, or even many western suburbs. Crime levels remain higher than in central Paris, but some neighborhoods are improving much faster than others. Visible poverty and social challenges are still part of daily life in some portions of the city, but if current redevelopment trends continue, Saint-Denis could be one of the biggest long-term real-estate success stories in the Paris region over the next decade.

The bottom line is that Saint-Denis is no longer simply the troubled suburb many people remember from 20 years ago. Someone living there described it as Brooklyn 20 years ago. It is becoming one of the most transformed urban areas in France, but it remains a city in transition.

I agreed to do the show and we spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday filming in Saint-Denis and the 19th arrondissement, which was a new adventure for me. Most of our clients want to be in central Paris and that means districts 1 through 8. However, for someone looking for affordability, future appreciation potential, and excellent transportation, no doubt that these northern areas of the city are becoming much more attractive.

“Future” is the key word here. For someone seeking the charm and polish of central Paris, it still has a way to go. Will I recommend it to our clients? That depends on the client, for sure! But, no matter what, it still remains outside the city “walls” and I always believe in being as dead center as possible to fully enjoy anywhere you’re living!

Note: We’re filming now, but the airing of the show is not likely to happen for about six months. We’ll be sure to let you know when it does!

FABULOUS FAB INSURANCE

In the midst of the House Hunters International filming, ALG Regional Manager, Jennifer Parrette, and I, were interviewed for about an hour by the Fabulous Fabien of Fab French Insurance for their YouTube channel all about “where to live in France.”

Jennifer and I bantered with Fabien taking two sides: urban living vs the French countryside. Jennifer is our resident expert on living outside of our two favorite cities for expats—Paris and Nice—while I lobbied for the urban living those two cities offer. You are sure to want to watch it, when it’s launched in a few weeks.

For now, watch our last interview with Fab Insurance about Buying Property in France.

LA CAVERNE DU PONT NEUF

The situation of JR’s La Caverne du Pont Neuf has changed dramatically in the last two weeks. It’s now open!

After being severely damaged by high winds on June 2–3, just days before its scheduled opening, the installation was repaired, reinforced, and officially reopened on June 15th. If you haven’t been following this, French artist JR has transformed the historic Pont Neuf into a gigantic walk-through cave.

 

It’s about 120 meters long, is completely immersive, free to visit, open 24 hours a day and is a tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their famous 1985 wrapping of the Pont Neuf. The installation is only open through June 28th, so there was no time to waste.

The objective for JR was to make visitors forget they’re standing in the middle of Paris and instead feel transported underground. This is one of the most significant cultural events in Paris this summer and is one of those rare projects that is arguably more impressive in person than in photographs because the entire experience depends on physically moving through the space. I had to see it for myself.

We set out early Sunday morning to beat the crowds…and the heat. At 10 a.m. you could stroll right in, from the Left Bank where rue Dauphine meets with Quai des Grands Augustins and Quai de Conti. The security police are profiling more than not so that the line flows easily. Even at 10 a.m., it was hot inside the Caverne, but not unbearable.

It really is quite a feat having orchestrated such a monumental task to create an optical illusion that makes a flat surface appear to open into an immense underground world. Using thousands of carefully arranged black-and-white photographs of rock formations, crevices, tunnels, and geological textures, JR created the illusion that the building itself has been cut away, revealing hidden caverns beneath Paris.

JR’s La Caverne is a giant trompe-l’œil that appears to tear open the surface of Paris, revealing a mysterious subterranean world that could be beneath the Pont Neuf…but isn’t. What is particularly interesting is that the illusion works on two levels: it creates the impression of a physical cave, but it also references Plato’s famous “Allegory of the Cave”—the idea that what we perceive as reality may only be a shadow of a deeper truth. JR has often enjoyed creating works that make viewers question what they are really seeing.

WELCOME TO THE CAVERNE DE JR BOUTIQUE!

JR is also the master of self-promotion. As you exit and cross to the La Samaritaine luxury department store, a large souvenir shop awaits you filled with all sorts of memorabilia. It has something for everyone and intelligent offerings, to say the least. It’s no question that the world will recognize him as one of the most important artists of our time, but also one of the most clever.

Here’s an Instagram reel that says it all about the shop, provided by parisjetaime.

FRANCE DOESN’T TRUST TRUSTS

For those thinking of moving to France and becoming tax resident, here’s a short video with immigration attorney Daniel Tostado and tax attorney Jonathan Hadida, about how France views U.S. trusts. If you have U.S. trusts, then it’s definitely worth viewing!

And to contact these trusted resources, visit our Immigration and Financial Planning pages on our website. Be sure to tell them Adrian Leeds sent you!

Note: In the interest of sending you this Nouvellettre® on time, I will not report on last night’s festival, but you can read all about last year’s.

A la prochaine…