Englishal & Keef
Now my interpretation of this is that a UK PPL IMC holder, who is excempt from the "in sight of the surface" paragraph of the ANO, can now legally fly VFROTT in France
I have it in writing from the CAA that a CAA-issued PPL holder, with an IMC Rating, who is therefore no longer bound to fly within sight of the surface in the UK, is also not bound by this rule worldwide. They told me that provided the DGAC does not mind, the CAA does no mind you flying above a solid layer in France. This is true even though the IMC Rating itself is not valid outside the UK.
I don't know the DGAC position but on similar issues their past response has been along the lines of "if the CAA don't mind, we don't mind".
This is very useful in practice because when flying between the UK and somewhere reasonably south in France, one usually flies from bad weather into good weather, and an IMCR pilot can do an IFR departure/IAP in the UK but cannot legally do one (but perhaps does not need to do one) in France.
Someone asked if one can fly "VFR" in the UK above a solid layer. The answer,
AFAIK, is Yes, but you need at least the IMCR to be legal. This is a fairly pointless thing to do however because if instead you call yourself "IFR" you are far more likely to get an RIS, with handovers etc !