As described by a IMC rated friend of mine:
Dateline: Not long ago
Venue : Northern France
Took off (why?) from said Northern French airfield into known cloudbase of 400ft in non IR equipped A/C.
Started to climb through cloud (why?) but decided it was too thick so stayed underneath. Flew up coast at various heights between 300-500ft.
Passed Bolougne at height sufficient to see detail of bolts in propellors of windfarm.
Saw blue sky through cloud at CGN and climbed to 2000ft.
Crossed channel.
Lived.