His other half is Lisa, a journalist and translator who loves all things French. She is a keen gardener and has been itching to swap a tiny London patio for something a bit bigger. She speaks French, Spanish and Italian but is still trying to get her head around the Normandy dialect. Given half the chance, she would happily spend the rest of her days growing veggies, cooking and making cakes.

Ged is a graphic artist by trade who switched to I.T. a few years ago to indulge his undeniable talent for tinkering with toys, computers and gadgets. He has a passion for travel and spent three years driving a camper van called Winnie around remote regions of Australia and the South Pacific. He loves football and is on a mission to find a French pub that serves a decent pint of Guinness.

Cinnamon is a once-tubby tabby cat who managed to lose an impressive 2.5 kilos at kitty weight-watchers and is now looking forward to terrorising French cats with her newly svelte form. Cinnamon is sweet when she wants to be and maddeningly aloof at all other times. She enjoys sleeping on radiators, barking at birds and eating as much as possible, as often as she can.