Trying to decide the best place to buy in France was a recurrent major theme from the hundreds of visitors to our French Village at A Place in the Sun Live, London.

Chris Anderson, visiting the show from Bedfordshire, probably best summed up what most felt: ''There is no doubt about France for us, but weighing up the various pros and cons of the different parts of the country is one that we have come here to try and settle'', he stated.

As always, the South West of France seemed to hold a strong appeal for many of you. ''I love the beauty and rurality of so many parts of the South West'', said Wendy Layton, ''and the fact that so many British nationals live there does actually hold an attraction for me, as I do not want to feel isolated.''

Links of a different nature were persuading some others to stay closer to home, so they were looking at Brittany or Normandy. George Burford and his wife Joanne also expressed widely shared sentiments: ''We want to be somewhere where our children and grand-children can visit without too much difficulty and cost, and neither do we want to entirely burn our bridges with Old Blightly'', they stated.

By contrast, others were looking to create some distance from their immediate family, so were planning to head for the sun further afield in either Languedoc-Roussillon or Provence Côtes d'Azur. ''With the availability of modern technology and the growth in low-cost airlines we do not think that proximity to the UK is really an important factor in our locational choice'', argued Peter and Camilla Markston.

Buyers on a budget seemed most interested in the Limousin or Centre regions, although there was also strong interest in the less expensive areas of the Midi-Pyrenees.

Whatever the differences in geographical priorities, the general feeling was that France was the destination of choice, not only because of the lifestyle it offered, but also for the fact that in an uncertain world it seemed to offer a greater degree of stability and security.

We hope those of you who visited us enjoyed the experience and thank you for taking time to talk about your hopes and concerns with our experts, agents and members of staff. Some of our seminars were so popular that there was standing room only, with rows three or more deep.

Thank you also to the estate agents and specialist advisors who participated in the event with us, and who provided such unstinting advice and information to our visitors.

A Place in the Sun Live Draw Winner

We are pleased to announce the winner of the prize draw is Maggie Parsons from Braintree, Essex.

Maggie wins a luxurious hamper containing a range of the choice food and drink kindly supplied by French Flavour Ltd, who supply quality produce on a mail order basis.

The company source only from small scale French artisan food producers who do not use artificial additives or preservatives in their products.

You can view their list of products, including gifts ideas at French Flavour.