EEA Family visa for non EEA spouse with French residence

[zamboo]

Hi - this is a relatively simple question regarding spouses of UK citizens who have exercised their EU treaty rights in an EEA country. Sorry if it has been asked and answered before, but I couldn't find a thread that answered my question.

After living and working together in an EEA country (eg. France), does the UK citizen have to go directly back to the UK, or can there be a gap where they live in another (non EEA) country?

To clarify: I am a UK citizen, my spouse is a Canadian citizen. We lived together in France five years ago, got married there and my spouse was granted a French residence permit, valid until 2015, as the family member of an EU citizen. We have been living together in Canada since 2006, and have only been back to the UK on short holidays (not to work or reside).

We are now planning to move to the UK to settle and we were wondering if anyone knows if having lived in France five years ago, and still having residence permits, would make it worth while applying for an EEA permit?

Thanks again,
Z