Hi Eskenazi Glad to hear you like Hesdin. Luckily for me I am able to work 4 days in London and spend 3 days in France, gradually hoping to curtail trips to the UK and start working on continent. The wife will not miss me too much (I hope) as I will leave early Monday and return late Thursday. We both speak enough French to get by. We have been thinking about it ever since we went to Cherbourg as Uni Students for Valentines day 93 but now finally have enough capital to buy a fair sized house and the ability to work initially 4 days in London, go to France at least 2 to 3 times a year. You are right, we want high streets that are not "pre packaged" - Next/M&S/Boots etc and we also want to immerse ourselves in French Life - we had to do it when we moved to a small village in Hampshire - its the only way to get to know people and make friends.... We cant wait to finally make the move, of course we will rent for about 6 months to ensure we do like living in France, there are a lot of posts warning people not to leave their home towns thinking life is better in France (frying pan/fire etc), we love where we live in the UK (reminds me of Dibley) but there is so much we want to learn about France and the French way of life and people.....