Purely by chance I enquired on availability on a property in Italy and cheekily asked if they would consider a swap to our place in SW France, and to our surprise and delight they agreed. They came to us a few weeks later and were charming (and we were reassured) and about two weeks later we went to their holiday place. (They actually lived in Scotland). In fact we were able to meet my sister and neice in Pisa and had a fabulous week.
Now that we have tried the concept I'd like to have more control over the choice of swap with like minded people and capitilise on our assets,the gites, with free holidays. What a great idea.