PARIS — Last month, the people of this city opened their newspapers to discover a full-page ad that announced: "You have 15 days to leave Paris."
The mysterious message was neither a warning nor a threat. It was the launch of a clever advertising campaign by the government of Lot-et-Garonne, a verdant and sunny district of the Aquitaine region in southwest France that is seeking an infusion of entrepreneurial energy and young families.
Lot-et-Garonne offered an intriguing deal to Parisians interested in starting or buying a business. If they abandoned the big city for the sticks, they would get a comprehensive package of help with their projects and assistance finding jobs, homes and schools for their families. The catch: The offer was good for only two weeks.
The response was remarkable. More than 2,000 calls and 400 e-mails inundated the hotline and Web site set up at the Maison de l'Aquitaine, the office that represents the region here in the capital. Even a transplanted Parisian living in Taiwan sent an e-mail expressing interest.
The program, which began Nov. 18 and has been extended because of the demand, clearly struck a nerve. And it exposed a demographic phenomenon -- and an urban malaise -- that might surprise the millions of tourists who flock to the French capital each year: A lot of Parisians are leaving. And a lot more would like nothing better than to see the Eiffel Tower in their rear-view mirrors.
The reasons are varied. Applicants to the relocation program recite a litany of complaints: gray weather, sky-high housing prices, pollution, traffic, crowds, crime, isolation and stress.
"In Paris, people are always working, always tense, stressed and frantic," said Philippe Ginoux, who runs a management consulting firm in the capital and signed up to explore possibilities in the southwest. "In the country, people work as much as in Paris but are less stressed.
"I know that in Lot-et-Garonne, it will take 15 minutes to drive 15 kilometers -- and not an hour. I also know that, after work when you come home in Paris, you are stuck in your apartment, whereas in the Lot-et-Garonne you can live in a house and have a drink in your garden."
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Dream of Rural Bliss
A good number of city-dwellers around the world dream at one time or another about escaping to rural bliss. But factors unique to France contribute to the pent-up angst here, especially among city dwellers with an entrepreneurial bent.
