Thank you for the life jacket advice although I think my survival chances after crashing into the channel are pretty low and I don't fancy my chances of a successful ditching. I'll probably focus my efforts on not crashing in the first place but a life jacket won't hurt especially if my school can lend me one.
When crossing the FIR boundary, would I just request frequency change to LT and then request joining instructions from LT?
If I need to talk to Lille Information for some reason, do I request basic information like in the UK?
Is there any particular time in advance of the flights that I should file the flight plan?