More French people live in London than in Bordeaux, Nantes orStrasbourg and it is now thought to be France's sixth biggest city in terms of population. What is attracting a new generation of young French professionals to the city?
On a wet Friday night in Hackney, a group of young professional women walk into a pub. Laughing about the British weather, they shake their umbrellas, peel off their raincoats and make their way to the bar.
Like many Londoners at the end of a busy working week, they have come to unwind over a few drinks.
But if you move a bit closer, you realise they are all speaking French. They are not tourists, exchange students or off-duty au pairs. They all work in creative industries, have lived in east London quite some time and consider it home.
"I came to London from Paris straight after graduating from art school, just to have a look - that was seven years ago ”
Malika Favre
London has a long-standing French community - but it is no longer confined to the streets around the embassy in South Kensington, where you will find French bookshops, patisseriesand pavement cafes patronised by impeccably dressed mothers dropping off their children at the posh Lycée FrançaisCharles de Gaulle.
Today there are French people in every corner of London and their numbers have been growing, with the result that in nextweek's parliamentary election in France they - along with expats in Scandinavia - will be voting for a candidate to represent them in the National Assembly.
The French consulate in London estimates between 300,000 and 400,000 French citizens live in the British capital - many inLondon's cutting-edge creative hub, in the East End.
"I came to London from Paris straight after graduating from art school, just to have a look," says Malika Favre. "That was seven years ago and I've no intention of going back."
Marine Schepens says London's employers are more willing to give young professionals a chance
Malika is much in-demand as an illustrator. Her commissions include a bold, playful design for a new edition of the Kama Sutra, an album cover for a French rock band and artwork for a Californian beachwear company.
Being in London and speaking English gives her access to a wider client base - Malika sees the city as a gateway to globalisation and also relishes freedom from French bureaucracy.
"With a new venture in Paris you always think first of what is going to go wrong. I find the system much easier here - you don't have so many rules and so much paperwork," she tells me.
Marine Schepens, who works for a fashionable advertising agency, says UK companies are more prepared to give young people a chance because it is easier to terminate their contracts than in France.
The biggest French cities
*Paris - 2.3m
*Marseille - 859,000
*Lyon - 488,000
*Toulouse - 447,000
*Nice - 344,000
French Embassy in London: "More or less 120,000 French are registered at the general consulates in London and Edinburgh, but we assess the real number of French living in the UK as being between 300,000 and 400,000, a huge majority of themliving in London."
Source: BBC News.
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interesting... 
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