Paris is no longer the ultimate mecca for ambitious young French from the prov?­inces; cities around the country are attracting young professionals who want to escape the more frenetic life in the Ile de France; the number of agricultural workers has shrunk dramatically; industrial and high-tech centers have sprung up around the country; provincial cities are developing their own international reputations; and immigration and increasing migration of populations within a  border-free  Euro?­pean Union are blurring the edges of the French identity.
Paris is starting to get masked by other nice cities.