North or south ?

[rannochraider]

Thanks very much for all your replies folks. Lots of good advice and food for thought in there and it seems good and bad points for North or South. All valid and worthy of serious consideration.
Something that really grabbed my attention and gave me a swift boot up the action button was the suggestion that the South of France was a nice destination to aim for. I ran that one past the wife tonight ,having filled her with fine red wine and was given royal approval for a European trip as part of a 'reccy' for a future trip for both of us. So having been scared sh1tless by the 'weather bomb' of touring in the UK, I'm now having a look at migrating south into deepest France sometime soon.
If anyone has done it in late January or February and can offer any advice I'd love to hear of your experiences.

Thanks again
Jim