Registering as an auto-entrepreneur but should I get an S1 as a precaution?

I am moving out to France on 17 August. I have been working full time in the UK and my husband has been living in our house in France permanently since Jan 1 2013. He is early retired (under 65) and in receipt of company pension. I am going to do some freelance work and a couple of UK contacts, including my current employer, i.e. work I can do computer based from France. However, I won’t really know if this will work out or how quickly. My other alternative is to return to the UK as and when opportunity arises to do short term contracts.

If I do the remote working in France then I will register as an auto-entrepreneur. I am keen to do this before September as I know there are rule changes coming up. However, I don’t know if I will have any immediate work. If I do this then I think can cover my husband as an ayant droit.

At the moment we have a workers S1 which gives husband a carte vitale through CPAM. The workers S1 expires 1 December and his current carte vitale expires 19 September. Of course, this set up is of no use to me. I am still in the NHS with EHIC card and travel insurance, but that setup is no use after 17 August. I could get a normal S1 which would cover both of us for up to two years and I wondering if I should do this anyway or whether I should just go straight in for the auto-entrepreneur? I am also not sure what happens if I ask Newcastle for an S1 and get a French carte vitale then come back to the UK to work, but I appreciate this may be outside of your knowledge.