Moving to France can be full of so many high's. The scenery, the peace and quiet and of course the local food and drink and it is also so easy to feel as though all of your troubles will go away forever, sadly, this is not the case.

Speaking the language, even if it is just a little is the best asset you can have to make life go that little bit easier and let you get on, stress free with the things you moved to France to do.

I know that there is a growing feeling that the love affair with France has died now that the credit crunch and the strong Euro has put pay to cheap holidays and cheap French houses.

My personal view is (and this is not intended as any kind of advice) that France will be a secure bet for living and buying a property in the coming eighteen months.

I have been keeping a close eye on the UK weather and boy does it look cold.

For all of you who are dreaming of sleepy France with memories of your last holiday, basking in the hot summer sun, take a look at the scene that greeted us this morning.

Temperatures are set to fall to around minus 4-8 in the next day or so and are currently hovering at about minus one.

It really is quite picturesque but I can tell you, despite insulation, oil central heating and the Godin kitchen wood burning stove, heating these stone houses is quite a task.

Late yesterday afternoon I spent an hour in the woods with the chainsaw and cut a third of a cubic metre of still standing, but dead oak.

It was like burning pure charcoal and the temperature gauge was screaming to its maximum and for the first time this winter I didn't feel like putting on extra clothes at night while watching the TV.

We can add a little artistic and creative twist to your French holiday by offering you the chance to learn how to carve from wood that you cut from the woodland.

My mate Mark Rogers will come to the pigeonnaire and show you how to carve small wooden caricatures from green and seasoned wood that has been cut from our own woodland.

Thank you for visiting us at Perigord Vacance.

You have come to the right place if you are looking to book a holiday for 2010.

We think that our little spot is special and we hope that if you come, you will agree.

Why not come with the hope of seeing one of many Hen Harrier as they make regular feeding flights around our farm.

Of course, we are not going to make promises but going on previous history, daily sightings are the norm with up to three or four separate fly pasts in a day.