Hi Di! I've moved your post into its own thread so we can try and pick up some replies from folks who know Poitou-Charentes or Limousin.

Learning a language seems to go a bit easier if you've already learned another one, so you should manage to pick up French. However, in my experience, when you first get here, you'll feel like you didn't learn a thing for a while. It's part of the "experience" I guess.

Are you planning on retiring to the area? Or will you be working - either for someone else or for yourselves?
Cheers,
Bev