An American Geek in Paris — Chapter 2
Comparing la France and la Californie
Whenever people in Paris ask me where I’m from I answer “La Californie.” I could use a number of other legit answers but that one seems to work out the best. California gets a lot of respect in France thanks to images of palm trees, warm beaches, Hollywood, and tech. Almost everyone here is using something that was designed in California every day. Whether it’s an iPhone, Le Google, or a Cisco video conferencing system (“Allo, tu m’entend? Je t’entend pas! Es-tu en mute?”), California products are well integrated into the daily life of most Frenchmen.
Hollywood movies also feature prominently in the many cinemas here as well as on TV. First run movies are not even dubbed. I recently saw Black Panther in English with French subtitles. Those subtitles really helped decipher the Wakandan dialogue.
Economy
This got me thinking, what French products did people use regularly back in California? My first thought was cheese but even many French-style cheeses sold in California are actually made in the US. There’s Périer mineral water, Californians drink a good amount of that. Some French wines gets sold in California but they are merely an infrequent diversion from the excellent California wines.
California has a huge aerospace industry of course, and so does France. France is also exceptionally strong in rotorcraft. Those bright orange helicopters that the US Coast Guard flies around San Francisco bay were originally designed by Aerospatiale, a French company that is now part of Airbus.
Let me not forget all the French fashion products that are purchased in California along with cosmetics and perfumes.
Then there’s agriculture: California produces a huge amount of the US’s fruits and vegetables, as well as the aforementioned wine. France is even bigger in wine and produces an incredible quantity and variety of farm products as well. When you got to a grocery store in California you can get “chicken” — as in light or dark meat. You can also get free-range organic chicken at Whole Foods/Amazon for 3x the price but it’s just the same breed of chicken raised under better conditions. In France you can get a particular breed of chicken from a particular region in a range of sizes and maturities. So that you recognize the breed of chicken they leave the feet and sometimes even the head on only to unceremoniously chop those off as soon as you make your purchase. The French are also really big on duck so your friendly local butcher will usually have several varieties of duck on offer. For the record, duck is way better than chicken. Plus they float.
In 2016 California surpassed France to become the world’s 6th largest economy [Reuters]. California did this with ~39.5M people while France has a population of ~67M. California’s 2016 GDP was $2.46T, or $62.3K/capita while France came in at $2.42T, or $36.2K/capita. Since exchange rates and local prices can warp these comparisons I also looked up France’s GDP weighted for purchasing power parity. This bumps up France’s number to $2.783T for 2016. Since California has higher prices than the rest of the US its adjusted GDP would fall relative to France meaning that the coveted 6th place GDP trophy should rightfully remain in the Elysée Palace, right next to all of Daft Punk’s Grammys.
Weather
The most direct comparison people make is between Paris weather and LA weather. Paris is a northern European capital, cold, damp, and dark in the winter, and with 171 days of rain per year for a total of 25.24" (64cm). That’s more rainy days than Seattle (152) although Seattle gets 37.14" (94cm) per year. The rain total for Paris is actually quite close to San Francisco’s 23.64"/year (60cm) but SF pulls that off in 68 days, mostly packed into October-March. In Paris it rains year-round, invariably when you’re not carrying your umbrella.
California is said to have a mediterranean climate but France is literally on the Mediterranean. Marseille, Nice, and the Côte d’Azur are basically SoCal with palm trees and beautiful beaches but with way fewer tacos. God I miss tacos. French food is amazing but a spicy salsa is harder to find here than vibranium!
Some of my colleagues in Paris have been surprised to learn that we ski in California and that California has mountains and snow. France of course has the Alps and its highest peak, Mont Blanc, at 4,810m or 15,780'. California’s Mt. Whitney comes closest at 4,421m or 14,505'.
California has giant Redwood trees. France has fields of lavender. Both countrysides are remarkably beautiful and both have magnificent coastlines however California has a desert while France does not. Perhaps France felt incomplete without a desert leading it to colonize Algeria only to seriously regret it later.
Let’s summarize in a handy dandy table: (which would be handier and dandier if Medium let you create real tables)
Measure California France
Population (M) 39.5 67
Area (km^2) 423,970 643,801
Latitude 37.7N (SF) 48.8N (Paris)
2016 GDP ($T) 2.46 2.42
2016 GDP, PPP ($T) 2.46 2.78
Venture Investments (2016 $B) 31 ~1.4
Annual Rainfall (in) 23.64 (SF) 25.24 (Paris)
Days of Rain 68 (SF) 171 (Paris)
Shortest Day (h) 9:32:52 (SF) 8:14:51 (Paris)
Longest Day (h) 14:46:53 (SF) 16:10:48 (Paris)
Highest Peak (ft) 14,505 15,780
Foreign Tourist visits (M) 18 (2016) 89 (2017)
High Speed Rail Lines (km) 0 2,647
Max train speed (mph) 79 200
Installed Solar Capacity (MW) 18,919 7,165
Nuclear Power Plants 1 58
Varieties of Cheese yes > 600
Wine Output/year (M gal) 680 1,452
Life expectancy 80.8 82.7
State/National Animal Golden Bear Rooster
Castles Hearst Castle Thousands
Burning Man yes, but in Nevada quoi?
Hipsters yes Ben, oui
Public Health Insurance no oui
Gasoline ($/gallon) 3.11 6.82
Teslas many a few
Scooters a few many
Weed legal ah ben non!
Dogs allowed in: offices restaurants
Iconic Head of State Jerry Brown Emmanuel Macron
Top Fashion Houses Levis LVMH
North Face Dior
Quiksilver ChanelThe CIA factbook this post is not. I did however try to sneak some interesting comparisons, numbers that even surprised me as I was researching them. I knew that California is a bit taller than France but didn’t realize that France has almost 50% more area. Width matters! The difference in venture capital investments is a bit of an eye opener. While France, and especially Paris, is giddy with startup fever, California startups are raking in over 20 times more VC investment. California has a lot of solar. France is nuke-central. France also produces over twice as much wine as California. Microbreweries can be found in most California cities. Les microbrasseries are just getting started in France and IPAs are imported and rare.
It is often said that California is a state of mind. France is something altogether different that requires ongoing investigation. Vive la différence!
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