Personal life circumstances and finances dictate these things, as detailed in the first post. A lot of people want to live away from the main cities, this is no negative matter. In the UK I would not want to live anywhere near London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast etc. My own life in England has largely been on the periphery of a town of 30,000 population a long way from the main cities.

Whilst I do not think that Marine Le Pen will win the next election it cannot be entirely ruled out. Maybe the electorate will hold its nose and vote for the only candidate that would take France out of the EU, Le Pen. That would not mean that the electorate was racist, merely keen on getting out of the EU, so it would tolerate 4 years of Le Pen, for the greater good. So it is slightly possible that France could leave the EU but not likely. So anyone who is anti-EU may well go to France, believing that its membership of the EU could cease or that the EU could totally collapse. But I suggest that the best circumstance for a UK person to live in France would be someone nearing retirement with a mortgage almost paid off, who sells his / her UK property and can thus be comfortable owning a French property of similar quality relatively cheaply. With the extra money in hand that seems sensible.

I was disappointed with Sarkozy's recent legal demise because to my mind he was the last French President to be a genuine character, unlike the present buffoon who pompously struts the EU halls of power whilst France has a lot of problems.