Which city. Which neighborhood. Which life.
Your Sherpa in France — scouting the right city, neighborhood, and life through a Zen lens — so you arrive knowing exactly where you belong.
The Zen Lens I use to evaluate life in France.
Restore · Move · Nourish · Sacred · Nature · Eco · Community
What The Zen Guy offers
01
SERVICES — Work With Michael
On-the-ground support for anglophones making France real — consultations, apartment inspections, accommodation search, and Airbnb scouting. Brainstorming is fun.
02
PRODUCTS — Guides, Scorecards, Apps, Memoir
Curated Zen Travel Guides and Zen to Live City Scorecards.
Start with the free Zen to Live France Test. Score your current life. Score France. See the gap.
03
TRY — Test the Zen Life
See how I actually live it — the 17m² Paris loft, the neighborhood, the daily rhythm, the specialty coffee. Downsized Zen living.
Airbnb & Home Exchange on Offer.
04
MEET UP — Experiences with TZG
Small-group experiences designed around the Zen pillars — eco printing in Bali, mindful mornings in Paris, and more coming. In person, intentional, unforgettable.
“Peace is Portable”
I left corporate. My cardiologist insisted. I retired to Paris at 60, traded 2,000 square feet for 17m², and discovered that the smaller the life, the larger it feels.
That's what I scout for — cities and neighborhoods in France where the walk to the market is the workout, where the park bench counts as sacred space, where the right-sized life turns out to be exactly enough.
Home is something you cultivate, not just a place you land.
The Zen Pillars
Seven lenses for scouting France — and for living well once you're there.
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Spaces to reset your nervous system and reconnect to your body. Hammams, saunas, float therapy, massage, reflexology, osteopathy, thalassothérapie — because rest is not a reward, it's a practice.
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Movement restores clarity. Walking paths, bike routes, outdoor yoga, chlorine-free swims, and the quiet rhythm of a city explored on foot — the calmest, most beautiful ways to move through a place.
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The most grounding way to start any Zen journey is through taste. Third-wave cafés, artisan chocolate, farmers' markets, plant-forward kitchens, and natural wine — food as a daily act of intention.
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Places that invite reflection, presence, and inner quiet. Temples, meditation spaces, sound baths, pilgrimage routes, and the kind of museum bench you sit on and lose track of time.
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Nature is the universal Zen teacher. Old-growth parks, botanical gardens, forest bathing, rivers, Miyawaki micro-forests, and sunset points — where to find stillness wherever you land.
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Zen living leaves a light footprint. The 20-minute city, mass transit, home exchange, green-certified stays, natural building, and the radical simplicity of owning less and moving more freely.
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Belonging is part of wellness too. Yoga classes, coworking cafés, LGBT-welcoming spaces, Airbnb Experiences, meetups, and the local hubs where strangers become neighbors.
Ready to find your city?
Whether you're still googling French cities at midnight or you've already set a date, the first step is the free Zen to Live France Test — 15 minutes to see exactly where the gap is between your life now and life in France.
