Where In Le Monde?

If you could live anywhere, where would that be?

Don't think about the money, the logistics, the language barriers. Let's preclude castles, mansions, private islands. Just picture a comfortably modest lifestyle, in a parallel universe.

My current reality is in California, USA -- once upon a time, a dream place for many. Maybe not this exact northern locale, but then again who knows? It's a beautiful area, with a fair standard of living. Perhaps, to someone halfway around the world, it even seems exotic. I chose this place, after sojourns in many places, and have now lived here longer than I have in any other. And no place could be greener; yet over the fence, the world holds out so many other, alluring shades of green.

France, for one. Every year, watching Le Tour, a part of me wistfully leaves home.  How do they do it? Those French, their ancient villages, seemingly untouched by crass modernity, strung together like uncut diamonds, along unurbanized roadways. Somehow, their daily life sustains without the visually overt presence of mega shopping malls, tires stores, neon signs, billboards, concrete islands covered with auto dealerships, schlocky franchises, or even gas stations. Vibrant forests and lush farmlands surround. Not unreasonable to assume one might actually get about via bicycle, even if over cobbled (picturesque!) roadways. Or horse and wagon. How about a sweet stone cottage with a venerable red tile roof? Little, useful shops, full of basic life stuffs, lodged nearby. Of course, these days, all wired, wirelessly.

What am I missing? Has the age of acceleration -- which clearly holds North America in its tech-tightening, culture-altering clutches -- given rural Europe a leisurely pass? China has been hit hard, on the environmentals, with modernity's growing pains; but maybe New Zealand successfully ducked?

I dream in tenses past. The more a place hints at yesteryears, the more it attracts. I choose to not ponder the difficulties of those times, selecting the bygone world's solidity and slower, stately pace.  Its elbow room.  Its ineffable promise.

What about new worlds? Frontiers in space. Pioneers, moving forward into lifestyles of the past. Would that be the best of all possible worlds?  Or tainted, from the getgo?  The innocence lacking.  Since the bell cannot be unrung.