When Heidi and Anthony Muir started to get fed up with sitting in constant queues of traffic near their home, while seeing an ever-increasing amount of new housing being built, they decided it was time to move.

But rather than opt for a countryside retreat in the Garden of England, they swapped their Allington semi on the edge of Maidstone for a French château.

Heidi, 55, said: "We've always lived in Kent. My husband comes from Walderslade and I came from Stockbury.

"We lived in our house in Allington for almost 30 years. It was actually my grandmother's from the late 1930s, so the house was always in our family.

"I moved to Maidstone in 1993 but we decided to make the move to France last year.

"We love Maidstone, we loved our house, we really did like the area and the kids had a great time at school and everything.

"But what made our decision was the developments that were starting around the Allington area – the roads just couldn't cope.

"The main London Road going into Maidstone was gridlocked most weekends and so this was one of the main factors of why we just wanted to change our lifestyle a little bit."

Heidi and her 53-year-old husband sold their four-bedroom, two-bathroom, semi-detached home in Grace Avenue for £600,000.

They bought a much larger château, complete with a B&B business, named Chez Jallot, in Vidaillat, France, for £370,000.

It has four large guest rooms, the couples own room, loft space which could make a further three to four bedrooms and two gites that have two bedrooms each, plus a living area and kitchen.

The couple decided to move to France as it was the closest place to move abroad with the biggest properties for the most value for money.

Heidi, who used to work as a services manager at King's School in Rochester, said: "In France you can get a lot more for your money.

"You can buy houses out here for as little as £30,000 upwards, but if you're looking at buying a cheaper house it will require work.

"I was made redundant from my work in October 2021 so that was a really good pushing point for us to make this move."

Anthony and Heidi are around an hour-and-a-half from Limoges airport, from where there are flights to seven different destinations in England.

"We also chose France as it's only an hour-and-a-half flight from here to England so it's really quick and simple to get back to the UK to see our children," said Heidi.

The couple have a daughter, Bronwyn, 25, and two sons, Ewan, 22, and Toby, 21, who still live and work in the UK.

The parents say that although they live further away they now see their children more during the holidays as they all take time off to have long stays together.

"The lifestyle over here in France is very different to the UK," said Heidi.

"The French have a lunch break from midday to 2pm every single day. So that's difficult to get used to because obviously everything in England is open 24/7.

"Also everything's closed on a Sunday so it's like going back to those old fashioned times."

When buying their new home the couple also brought the B&B business that came with the Chez Jallot.

Located in La Creuse, the Chez Jallot offers guests a stay in an 19th Century Manor House with four bedrooms and ensuite facilities.

In addition to the manor house, there are also two pet-friendly, self-contained gites – holiday homes – with a fully-equipped kitchen.

Heidi, who now works as the front of house manager of the B&B alongside Anthony, said: "French lessons are compulsory along with our visa.

"You have to do 200 hours of French lessons that we have to attend, which are fantastic, obviously, because our French is a little limited.

"But there's a lot of English speaking people around where we live."

Anthony, who used to work at Cyclopark in Gravesend, and Heidi learnt that their French home has featured on Grand Designs, the long-running Channel 4 home improvement programme, three times.

The building was derelict for 60 years before an English couple bought it in 2004.

Heidi said: "It was just four walls, because the house was burnt down in the war by the Nazis because the French Resistance was using it as a headquarters.

"The Nazis came in, found out and burnt the house down.

"When an English couple bought the house as a complete derelict shell they did it up.

"So we've been very lucky that we've not had to do all that hard work that was already done all for us."

While there are property bargains to be had, Heidi said things like food are very expensive in France.

She explained: "You have to plan in advance to go to the market because we're a 30-minute drive away from a supermarket.

"But once we stepped foot into this house, we knew instantly this was the house that we wanted.

"It's just so peaceful and quiet out here. It's very well known for walking holidays."

Before making their big decision Heidi and Anthony looked at many properties to make sure they were choosing the right home for them – especially as they originally set out on the search for a holiday home.

The couple had never run a B&B before and get a mix of French and English holiday makers.

Heidi said: "When we have French guests it's a little tricky to understand them so we're grateful for Google Translate whilst we're still learning the language."

To find out more about Heidi and Anthony's home and holidays click here. https://www.chezjallot.com/

Heidi added: "This was a life-changing move that we do not regret.

"However, I would say to anyone thinking of doing what we did to definitely do your homework.

"Make sure you visit lots and lots of houses because there are a lot of hidden things you don't think about.

"If you want a different lifestyle then I would encourage anybody to make the leap."