Can You Imagine Moving to France Using ChatGPT to Choose Your Town? That’s What This American Did

Can you imagine asking AI where you should live and then taking its advice? Well, that’s exactly what this American woman from Texas has done. It sounds like something you do in your lunch hour when you’re bored and daydreaming of a different life, only instead of dreaming about it, you actually do it.

I hear from many people who dream of moving to France, but that dream never becomes a reality. There is the usual procrastination of location, work, family, friends, and so on. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and never realize that dream.  

Rather than let this happen, Julie turned to ChatGPT, gave it her backstory, and asked it to suggest where in France she should live. Then, taking the advice she’d been given, she upped sticks and moved lock, stock, and barrel to France. 

How Julie Planned Moving to France Using ChatGPT

Have you ever taken one of those online quizzes that tell you the job you’re best suited to or the type of house and region where you’d be happiest? I know I have, plenty of times.

In the past, those quizzes were featured in magazines like Cosmopolitan. They were a bit of fun to while away the time. But I never took them too seriously, a bit like reading your horoscope. Fun to read, but not exactly the type of thing you’d live your life by.

Well, for Julie Neis, it was different. She took things to a whole new level, and I can’t help but admire her courage. After years of working in the tech industry, Julie had built a career that offered a good salary and frequent travel. On paper, it looked ideal. But she was running on empty. 

She knew she needed to make a change. France had always held a special place in her heart. She’d studied the language at school, spent a year in France as a student, and lived in Paris for five years starting in 2004. She loved the country’s rhythm of life, but when she returned to the United States, her career took over. Years later, she found herself craving that same sense of connection she’d once known.

One night, she sat down and opened ChatGPT. Instead of asking for something trivial, she typed out her life story, her burnout, her desire for a slower pace, and her dream of living in France again. 

She told it what mattered most to her: sunshine, a sense of community, good food, open-air markets, and an international crowd. Then she asked the question that changed everything: “Where in France should I live?”

From Paris to a New Beginning

She started in Paris, where she’d lived before, but it was too fast, too crowded, too familiar. She wanted peace. ChatGPT compared several towns across France, listing pros and cons for each, before narrowing it down to two: Sarlat-la-Canéda in the Dordogne and Uzès in Occitanie.

Sarlat sounded lovely but remote. Uzès had a lively market, Mediterranean climate, and was conveniently located near Nîmes and Avignon. When she asked ChatGPT to pick one, it chose Uzès.

Julie laughed at the idea of letting a computer decide her future, but something about it felt right. She’d spent months in indecision, and suddenly she had a clear direction.

The Move to Uzès

Once she made up her mind, things happened quickly. She applied for a Passporte Talent visa, a residence permit for professionals with creative or cultural projects. Her background as a food blogger, content creator, and former TV host on a Paris lifestyle show helped her qualify. After a few months, her visa was approved.

By this time, Julie had been living nomadically for a few years, so packing up her life wasn’t hard. She sold her car, quit her job, and booked a one-way flight to Nice. From there, she caught a train to Avignon, rented a car, and drove to Uzès.

She had never been there before. But as she walked through the old streets, past sandstone buildings and shaded squares, she said she felt instantly at ease. “Okay,” she thought, “here we go.” What an adventure.

Finding Her Feet in Uzès

Uzès is one of those small southern towns that has managed to keep its soul. Its main square, Place aux Herbes, sits beneath a canopy of plane trees, surrounded by arcades and cafés. The twice-weekly market fills the air with the scent of fresh herbs, bread, and olives.

Julie rented a one-bedroom apartment with vaulted ceilings and a view of the medieval tower. Her new life began with simple routines: a morning coffee in the square, afternoon strolls through the market, evenings sharing an Aperol with friends.

At first, she worried about loneliness. She’d lived abroad before, but this time she was arriving alone and without an existing network. In the early weeks, locals would see her sitting alone, but that soon changed. Her YouTube channel, French Julie Travels, helped her meet others with similar stories; people who had also chosen France for its slower pace or who were planning to do the same. Many of them reached out after finding her videos.

Her first circle of friends included mostly retirees. “They told me I brought the average age down,” she laughed. Eventually, she met people closer to her own age, and her community grew naturally.

The Beauty of Everyday Life

Life in Uzès brought back something Julie had been missing for years, a sense of calm. There’s no rush to be anywhere, no constant pressure to achieve. Conversations unfold slowly over coffee. Long lunches are part of the culture, not a luxury.

She noticed that people rarely ask what you do for a living. “They might ask later,” she said, “but it’s not the first thing. Because that’s not what matters most.”

The cost of living, she found, was generally lower than in the United States, although prices in France have increased in recent years. I can attest to that, as everything has gone up in the ten years we’ve been living here. Still, it’s a manageable trade-off for the quality of life.

She does miss the conveniences of American life, like 24-hour grocery stores and easy access to international ingredients. When she wants something like soy sauce or noodles, she takes a day trip to Nîmes or Avignon to visit the Asian supermarket. 

The slower rhythm has done wonders for her health. The burnout that once controlled her life has eased. “I completely feel like myself again,” she said. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

From Burnout to Purpose

Julie’s story has resonated deeply with her followers online. Through her Instagram and YouTube channels, she shares her daily life in Uzès, including the markets, meals, and quiet corners of village life. Her photos and videos capture the small pleasures: morning coffee, fresh produce, a glass of wine at sunset.

She calls it “slow living,” but it’s also about intentional living. It’s a way of reconnecting with what really matters.

Out of her experience has come a new business. Julie now helps others plan meaningful trips to France through her French Julie Travels brand. She organizes retreats and market tours designed to show visitors a more grounded side of French life.

Her New Venture: AWE Retreats

Her biggest project yet is AWE Retreats, set to launch near Uzès in April 2026. AWE stands for Awaken, Wonder, Enjoy, a name that sums up her mission perfectly.

The retreats are designed to help people slow down and reconnect with themselves through the rhythm of French village life. Guests will stay in a château-style estate surrounded by vineyards, with mornings spent at local markets, afternoons devoted to cooking classes, and evenings spent with wine under the stars.

Julie returns to the United States once or twice a year to visit family, but doesn’t see herself moving back permanently. France feels like home now. She’s even considering buying an apartment in Uzès, though the property prices have risen steeply. For now, she’s content in her small rental with its view of the medieval tower and the familiar hum of the town below.

Her daily routine is simple: coffee at the same café each morning, chats with local shop owners, quiet afternoons writing or filming, and evenings with friends in the square. It’s a life far removed from corporate boardrooms and constant emails, and that’s exactly how she likes it.

She says she still finds it surreal that ChatGPT played such a significant role in bringing her here. “It sounds strange to say AI changed my life,” she laughed, “but it did.”

When she looks back, she sees it less as a tech story and more as one of trust, trusting herself enough to take a risk. “I was so overwhelmed by choices that I couldn’t move forward,” she said. “Letting ChatGPT decide gave me the clarity I needed. And that clarity led me here.”

The Takeaway

Julie’s journey captures something many people feel but rarely act on, the desire to stop rushing and start living. Her move to Uzès wasn’t about escaping reality but about finding balance again.

She chose to trade in the constant busyness for something quieter and more meaningful. Letting AI decide may sound risky, but for Julie, it turned out to be the best decision she ever made. She chose possibility over fear and found a new life waiting for her in southern France.