Le Bastiais

Thanks, Will, that's extremely helpful. I had indeed assumed that the EHIC was more or less the same as the old E111, and the difference is important to us. I did suspect that changing our "official" country of residence would open a can of worms so I am happy to avoid that.

My wife and I (68 and 65, both in pretty good health generally) alternate between our house in the UK and flat in France. We ahve just started a 5-month stay in France - our first really extended stay - and are baffled as to what to do about health cover. We are not really planning to become "residents" here in the sense of abandoning our UK base, but we may well spend up to 50% of our time here (though with trips back and for). Should we get an S1 and register for a carte vitale? We have our (UK issued) EHIC cards, and travel insurance for trips up to 90 days, but these only cover "urgent" care. We are perfectly prepared to pay for top up insurance but the first thing is to get the basics sorted. Help please!