Hi Neil, read your message and thought I must reply, I moved out for good at the start of 2000 at the age of 25! Had an affinity with France for years, especially where I am now in deepest darkest Vende.Bought my place in 1997 when the money was good in England and found myself spending more and more time here. There were a lot of pro's and con's involved in the decision to move out for good, family/friends, but if it feels right in your heart, do it! I see more of my close friends now than I would if i'd taken a job in London for instance, they love coming over to sit in a field for a couple of weeks and spending QUALITY time together. The big difference is the speed of life, whereas in England you find yourself subconsciously worrying and stressing about the smallest things that actually don't matter, over here a problem is a godsend to get the old grey matter in action. The electric goes off in England for 10 minutes and its a disaster, over here its a challenge as to who can find the candles and then hoping it doesn't come back on for a good while as we're having a great little chat without any distractions. I for one am never homesick and if this helps in anyway i'm glad, by the way don't forget to stock up on hp brown sauce, however good the local boulangerie is you can't beat a good bacon buttie on a foggy sunday morning after a few too many rouge ones the night before! Good luck Marco