Having flown to France recently I can confirm they are much better at making pilots welcome than British airports generally are. You will find that some forumites here will say 'don't do anything adventurous until you have an IR and 2000 hrs.
ImHo you should do what gives you a buzz whilst staying within your envelope of ability. If you can be honest with yourself then you are well qualified to judge when you are ready to take on the next challenge. Make sure your stick and rudder skills are top notch as being able to really fly when everything else is against you may keep you alive.
It's completely feasible to be flying yourself to the alps with 100hrs P1 you can be there in 2 years of strip flying. Just make sure that when you go you leave enough time to be weathered in.
Feel free to pm me and I'll take you into some tricky farm strips in my plane. You'll quickly see that it's all just basic skills you can learn and practise rather than sky-godliness.