They were all crowded in front of giant screens, their eyes glued to the train arrival and departure times. Especially the departure times—those are the times that matter today.
"They" are the foreigners passing through, the provincials returning home. "They" are, even more surprisingly, those Parisians who left the City of Light, its cobblestones and Haussmannian boulevards, its culturally rich and socially tumultuous life, that Parisian life made impossible in times of lockdown. All you had to do was slip a microphone into the crowd of travelers at Montparnasse station when the latest lockdown measures were announced, which the media did last week, to hear them say so.
Month after month, lockdown after lockdown, the health crisis is turning everything upside down, and the SNCF is a prime place to observe this. The famous Legrand star, which connects all lines to a single point, Paris, is now shining in the opposite direction. Trains traveling to the countryside are packed. The French are rediscovering rural France, the France that has sometimes been described with a touch of condescension, even contempt, as "profound." Is this simply a disruption to rail traffic or a deeper groundswell of a coming urban exodus? I would gladly bet that the stars, in reference to this very particular French rail network, are predicting the future better than they ever have before.
During this past year of health crisis, the sad anniversary of which we have just marked, rural life has been widely embraced. Suddenly, as suddenly as the epidemic appeared, people have discovered its old-fashioned charm to such an extent that it has now become both a refuge and a safe haven. This double analogy is because today, while rural life is a place where city dwellers, especially Parisians, can take shelter from the crisis by escaping the feeling of confinement they may experience in homes that are considered too cramped and lacking in green spaces, it could well be that tomorrow, rural areas will also be a place where people will go to put their money to protect it from the economic and financial consequences of this same crisis. In 2021, urban dwellers are realizing that "the countryside is winning them over." They have acquired a taste for it, and many of them are now thinking of moving there.
Last week, an IFOP/ALADOM survey revealed that 67% of French people wanted to change aspects of their daily lives. For 34% of those surveyed, these would be substantial changes, and for 36% of 25-34 year olds, this desire for change even translates into a concrete desire to move house. Green tourism and the real estate market for primary and secondary residences in medium-sized towns, small towns, and the countryside undoubtedly have a bright future ahead of them! The economic crisis that is sure to follow the health crisis will only accelerate this phenomenon as investors turn to what are known as safe havens. The rule, which has been proven time and time again, is now well known to anyone with even a passing interest in the financial markets. When the economy is in crisis, investors need reassurance and so they turn to safe financial products that are less affected by the crisis, or even those that can improve when speculative bubbles burst. This is the case with gold and real estate investments. The real novelty here is that it may not be the urban real estate market that could reap the greatest benefits this time around!
At a time when issues related to global warming are becoming paramount, when well-being is taking on a new meaning, and when local businesses are more profitable than multinationals, it could be that, beyond the real estate market, the economic world is turning to other horizons and we are witnessing a "green gold rush." ." Businessman Xavier Niel has just invested in a school that will train 2,000 city dwellers to return to rural areas. Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk's brother, predicts that millennials will leave their office jobs to join farms. For the second time this century, the number of farmers aged 25 to 34 is increasing in the United States. Elon Musk himself is offering a $100 million reward for effective carbon capture technology. Finally, Bill Gates has just carried out a kind of silent takeover by discreetly becoming the largest landowner in the United States. Is this a mere coincidence or a sign of deeper societal upheaval? I am one of those who believe that "there are no coincidences, only rendezvous." Let's not miss this one. I am convinced that it is high time to start thinking about the rurality of tomorrow!
JM Esnault – Chief Executive Officer of The Land
