Interesting question. There do seem to be some slightly odd assumptions around; the idea that permit aircraft are not allowed out of the UK being another example that has come up more than once.
It makes me wonder about where people normally go for advice and/or information on the large number of things which one doesn't know about flying on the day one's new licence drops through the letterbox.
In my case a significant amount of information has come from this very forum, and some through magazines. Not much came through talking to other pilots at my original flying club though, since hardly anybody there ever ventured far beyond the local area and only two had ever flown outside the UK. Perhaps that's not uncommon.
Leaving aside people who fly mega twins, turboprops or whatever,
Just on that particular point, there are some shots
here of some reasonably heavy metal parked quite happily at the delightful little 600m sloping grass strip at
Verchocq near Le Touquet. Very well worth a visit by the way both for the strip itself and the food!