However, I was accompanied by 2 students and although I am not their instructor I think he would be very unhappy if I gave them the impression that committing infractions are no problem as long as you don’t get caught.
That’s not as wise or safe as you think, this was an examiner with 6kh who is IFR rated in IFR equipped aircraft and he killed his PPL student by running into a hill, he was probably doing your “good impression business”? there was another PA28 aircraft that cruised safely in clouds on straight line untill they did cloud-break in their destination, the pilot who flew the 2nd aircraft had PPL only but he seemed to know what he was doing as far as staying away from terrain & keeping his track
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/204020
It meant descending and ducking under and around cloud and a lot of work dealing with the various airspace owners who were all quite busy with parachuting, gliders and lots of GA. Nantes were very busy with arrivals and it was necessary to avoid cutting across the missed approach.A lot of work.
Of course it’s a lot of work, you are not helping or doing a favour to anyone going freestyle like that by randomly changing your level and flight path? requesting pop-up clearance? routing here and there? busting lower airspace? in other words not knowing what you are doing !
There are better way to deal with it next time, a relaxed flight where you maintain altitude and 270 heading or some GPS/VOR fix before cloud-break over open water on -500fpm descent by hand or autopilot in Golf then flying safely to your AD, maybe the pilot sitting next to you would have learned something other than freestyle random low flying between holes in the middle of terrain & airspace and pissing every ATS unit out there while increasing traffic collision risks (assuming not getting kill on a hills or losing control)
PS: if you have an autopilot, use it next time by hooking some RNP or DCT, it will buy you more time & safety than freestyle hand flying between clouds, also you will do yourself, ATC, other traffic and innocent people on ground one of the great favours by not flying like a volatile aircraft all over the place in altitude & heading 
That kind of stuff will not work in France for a foreign pilot because he won’t have a clue to how work the various bits of low airspace, much of which is military and owned by god knows who. Only the locals know how to do that.
Accordingly, the best way to fly “distances” in France is using the Class E (mostly VOR-VOR) routes which have a ~FL065 base. That is true for both VFR (which is however limited to FL115 in much of France) and with the EIR/BIR/IR. What always amazed me was that when flying in France there was virtually nobody flying these easy routes. The club traffic flew at very low level (which they could do because they knew the system).
What always amazed me was that when flying in France there was virtually nobody flying these easy routes. The club traffic flew at very low level (which they could do because they knew the system).
They are not on the VFR map, the Airway and it’s Echo is not shown, the majority of aircraft don’t climb above 5kft for anecdotal reasons (lack of oxygen up there, lack of performance, no mixture and usual habit of keep low profile or local flights), there is also rumour here and there of required IFR equipement to fly Echo Airways routes like certified DME/VOR/GPS (legally nothing required for VMC navigation, even tablet or PLOG is enough) and ModeS transponder (I have not figured yet if it’s required for Echo or not?)
@Ibra I plan my flights and if my plan ‘B’ would put us in any danger or meant I would need to do illegal flying I would either not have gone or I would have made a 180°. The aircraft I was flying does not have an autopilot and I am quite capable of avoiding illegal flying without pissing off ATSOs and without crashing into obstacles.
I will say no more on this for fear of getting personal.
With good planning there is no problem for the most part in flying at the lower levels in France.
Most SIV speak English as do most military controllers. Some do have stronger perhaps more unintelligible accents than others, but I find the same when I fly in the UK.
The airways are on the 1;1million map which you can get with the Complimentaire to VFR and a couple of other things.
You can also download the IFR en route chart (including all airways) free of charge from the SIA website.
I don’t think mode S is necessary to fly these routes but a transponder with at least mode C is carried by most club aircraft.
Most club pilots will only fly these routes if they are actually going somewhere distant. There is no point in climbing to FL65 if you are just going to an aerodrome about an half an hour away and where most of the journey can more simply be made without entering CAS or when transiting is just a matter of asking.
Most club aircraft are also equipped for at least night VFR, which is basically the same as that needed for En Route IFR to some extent but it is restrictions, often by the aircraft manufacturer that stops one flying IMC. Just look at the limitations section of the DA40 POH. IMO the equipment carried in most French club aircraft (not including ULM) is quite sufficient to meet the needs of the EIR pilot and may even be sufficient for the BIR. If regulation/rules allowed that: IMO the EIR and now the BIR could flourish.
