France is European champion of centenarians. They are 30,000 today in France, ie 30 times more than 50 years ago. They are overwhelmingly women. What are the recipes for this longevity?
Colette Maze, Charlotte Chopin and Christian Chesnay have one thing in common. They are part of the 30,000 centenarians in France today. Centenarians 30 times more numerous than in 1970 and increasingly fit. At 100, Charlotte Chopin still gives yoga classes with remarkable flexibility. For a century, the passage of time seems to have had no hold on her. “I don’t see myself growing old”she jokes.
The longevity record is 122 years
France is European champion of centenarians ahead of Spain and Italy. Almost one in two still lives at home, like Christian Chesnay, 102. He shares his daily life with his 80-year-old wife. “Without her, I would have died a long time ago”thinks Christian. At 108, Colette Maze is as lively as her hands on a keyboard. For her, everything is a question of state of mind. The longevity record is held by another Frenchwoman, Jeanne Calment, who died at the age of 122.
View comments
