Glad everyone not reacting in horror to our France move. We've bought a done up place - an old farmhouse which has been renovated. It's still massively cheaper than here, and although we had fantasies of getting somewhere really cheap and doing it up, we heard too many horror stories about trying to deal with renovations. Also, we had to face up to the fact that neither of us are very good at diy type stuff, so we looked for somewhere that people who were good at it had done up already (if that makes sense).
Warning to anyone thinking of doing this - leave a lot of time to complete on the sale. We agreed a price last June and didn't complete until 23rd December.
The house is in the Pas-de-Calais (the closest bit to the UK) which is very like Kent would be if there were a tenth of the people. DH and I are both self employed and the dream is that we each go to London a day or two a week (after the baby is nine months or so) and work from home the rest of the time.
Schools are a big part of why we are moving - also although it may seem a bit early, we have been holidaying in that region for years, and you really notice that the older kids and teenagers are much easier and more integrated than back home. It may just be the difference between urban and rural, but it is v noticeable.
Of course, we may be totally bored and isolated and want to come back to London within the year, in which case we've got a v expensive holiday house, but it seems worth a go.
Whew, that was a v long post. Hope all is well with everyone.