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UPDATES MAIN PAGE *** GENERAL UPDATES ABOUT WALKING IN FRANCE SPECIFIC NEWS FROM & ABOUT THE PATHS (GRs) QUESTIONS & QUERIES *** CLOTHING & EQUIPMENT *** MAPS & GUIDEBOOKS RESTAURANTS & ACCOMMODATIONS SITE CONTENTS *** OVERVIEW *** LINKS *** HOME |
ARCHIVE: REPORTS FROM FRANCE ON FOOT & MOUTH – I queried Pierre L., an avid walker living in France near Lyon, about foot & mouth disease in France. Below is his reply followed by more recent reports from other walkers.Nothing looking like trail closures until now; it seems that the French government is much more careful than its British counterpart not to repel tourists. Quite a number...of suspicious cases had led to massive culling in some areas (in the Nord most notably, but also in monts du Lyonnais) but until now only one real foot and mouth case has been reported: in the north of the Mayenne. In infected areas—at least here in monts du Lyonnais where the local press reports (are) more precise—there was no trail closure, no road closure either. Only the Gendarmerie was there to disinfect cars, and probably warn to avoid the area. I don't know what will happen if the number of cases follows the English curve, but I guess everything will be done to keep tourism flowing. – Pierre L., Lyon, France, 22 March '01 NO PROBLEMS IN BRITTANY - I am just back from a week walking the GR 34 in Brittany between Lannion and St Brieuc. Being from Britain and having seen all our footpaths closed this spring and summer, ostensibly because of foot and mouth, I asked the Brittany tourist office by email what the situation was in Brittany.Their reply, sent to me in late April, was 'The situation with foot and mouth in France is happily finished. All footpaths are open' (my translation). On our trip (13-20 May) this proved to be completely true. There were no restrictions whatsoever, and none of the unfriendly (and often unofficial) signs that have become such a feature of Britain recently. Your correspondent from Lyon who said back in March that the French authorities were likely to be much more careful than their British counterparts not to repel tourists was right. Anyone thinking of walking in France this year should have no need to worry about foot and mouth, indeed the only mention of it on our entire trip was one warning sign at the Eurostar terminal in London telling us that we had to eat our sandwiches before leaving the train in Paris. – Carole N., England, 3 June '01 FRENCH REACTION TO FOOT & MOUTH? – Now that Foot and Mouth has been confirmed in France, we are naturally concerned that our planned walk in the Parc Regional du Cevennes in mid September is in jeopardy. Do you have any indication of the response of the French authorities to walkers on the GR trails? I realise that much depends on the spread of the disease and Im hoping that this area with its very low population of livestock will be unaffected. – Bryan M., New Zealand, 21 March '01 – From BLeF - Ever since that one case of confirmed foot & mouth disease was announced, I have not been able to find any more information about possible restrictions. I have read that suspect farms are quarantined, but do not know how widespread and restrictive the regulations are. Can anyone help? FOOT & MOUTH or HOOF & MOUTH DISEASE IN FRANCE? – My friend and I had planned to take the Coast to Coast hike in England this spring. Right now, it appears unlikely that hikers will be allowed access to country trails because of the hoof and mouth disease outbreak. So now we are considering a long hike in the French countryside! I have purchased your book and will begin making backup plans. But, I wanted to know if the hoof and mouth disease has affected France yet. And have any restrictions been placed on hiking? – Nicholas A., Winthrop, WA, 6 March '01 – From BLeF and the 6 March issue of the New York Times - Here's information I found in today's New York Times: So far, no "active" cases of the disease have been found in France, but hoof & mouth (foot & mouth) antibodies have been found in some animals in nine different herds of sheep in five districts, the Cher, Mayenne, Oise, Vienne and Seine-St Denis, all in north and central France. These herds contain animals imported from England. As a precautionary measure some 50,000 animals—all those imported from England along with those the imported animals have come in contact with—are being or have been destroyed. To further isolate any possible contamination road blocks have been set up around those quarantined farms where sheep with antibodies were found. There are no publicized trail closures as yet, but the situation is obviously very serious. We can only hope that this very contagious disease doesn't spread to France from England. I will attempt to keep everyone abreast of the news by posting updates on the website. If you have new information, please e-mail the site. RESTRICTED WALKING DUE TO HOOF AND MOUTH DISEASE? – I want to walk in France—probably west of Calais along towards Cap Gris Nez, but possibly elsewhere. Are there any restrictions at present to prevent or restrict someone from England so doing, given the current Foot & Mouth outbreak? – Roger T., England, 4 March '01 – From BLeF - At present, I know of no restrictions. But in the New York Times today I read that there has been a suspected but not confirmed outbreak of Hoof & Mouth in Belgium, only 11 miles from the French border (and in central France near St-Etienne as well). If the Belgian case is confirmed and if the disease begins to spread, I would guess that the French would, as authorities have in England, close the walking trails near the border—that is, in the Calais area—in an attempt to prevent the disease from spreading. If anyone learns of any such closures in Calais or elsewhere in France, I would greatly appreciate an e-mail so that I can post an alert for Roger and others. – Post-Walk Comments from Roger T., 9 March '01 - Thanks for your speedy reply to my query about possible restrictions for English walkers in the Calais area...you said that you didn't know of any, and in fact when we ventured out of Kent to do a walk along the Opal Coast from Cap Blanc Nez last Monday, there was nothing to suggest that Hoof and Mouth (as you call it) was about—except for the pools of disinfectant that we had to drive through at either end of Eurotunnel and the fact that we couldn't take sandwiches into France! What is perhaps more worrying, especially (since) the coastal path is due to become part of a longer trans Europe route, is the state of the "Sentier du littoral" along the top of the cliffs between Escales and Wissant; it seems to be fast disappearing into the sea. We did the last section along the sand as it seemed to present the easier and safer option. Our return via Sombre and Mont Roti was rather more straightforward. A very pleasant day, however, with lovely sea views and a good meal in Wissant, depite it looking so dead MAD COW, HOOF AND MOUTH IN FRANCE? – Thanks for the site. It has been invaluable for our planning a walk across France. My wife daughter and I plan to walk from Geneva to Bordeaux, where possible using walking paths but where necessary risking the roads. There are always things you can't plan for and for us it's "mad cows" and "foot in mouth". If anyone has any thoughts on avoiding these problems (short of becoming vegetarians!) while still enjoying the French food, we would be interested to hear. – The Allens, Australia, 1 March '01 – From BLeF - My wife and I were in France in November, right after the scandal of infected cows being sold into the marketplace and the photo of a French person suffering from "mad cow" was published. As a result, the government had mandated the removal of beef sweetbreads from restaurant menus. Quite a storm with headlines and long articles in all the papers. In reaction some but not all restaurants also removed steak and other beef products from their menus. We just didn't order beef, which was easy to do. As far as I know, it's next to impossible to avoid the occasional attack of "foot in mouth," but "hoof and mouth" is another matter. So far, though, this disease, which rarely if ever affects humans, has not made it to France from England, though, given the ease of transmission via contaminated dirt on shoes and clothing, that's certainly a possibility. If it does, then, to protect the herds in uninfected areas, the walking trails in and near any outbreak would be closed as they are in the British countryside now. Because it is so difficult to destroy the "prions" that cause mad cow, the bigger picture vis-a-vis that disease is more complex and difficult. What about stock made from beef bones and meat? What about the dust from bone meal in fertilizer? Or for that matter what about gel caps for medicine made from rendered beef bones and hooves? It's probably impossible to avoid beef products completely, no matter how determined. One of the risks of life, I suppose. MORE ON FOOT AND MOUTH - I just returned Monday from 5 days of walking "France on Foot" style in the Perigord. I began in Montignac and finished in Sarlat. I hiked most of that distance on trails that bordered farmland and forest. I encountered no restrictions whatsoever in this area. In fact, I forgot about the issue completely until I asked a farmer about it. He ran the Gîte where I spent the night. He laughed it off and said that they were totally unconcerned. It was too far away, and the French authorities are banning livestock imported from the UK anyway. Was this ignorance on his part, or a brave Gallic attitude? I think a mix of both. Anyway, I advise anyone planning a walking trip to France to forget about any restrictions on the paths right now. However, IF the disease spreads in France, you might want to get a railpass instead! – Kurt Krueger, 16 May '01, krueger@oregon.uoregon.edu back to top FUEL SITUATION IN FRANCE ON 13 SEPTEMBER - I just got a second e-mail from Tony, editor of France Voila, the online newsletter from the site www.goto-France.com (go there to subscribe). In his note he explains the situation as of this morning vis-a-vis the truckers' strike and the resultant lack of fuel for rental automobiles and planes. The situation is getting better in France. I thought this word direct from the trenches might be of interest to walkers leaving for France this week. - BLeFOfficially the blockades and fuel shortages are over in France, but now other countries in Europe are ... having problems with drivers blocking routes. Here in Herault (dept34) I have found most garages (8 out of 10 I counted today) open and serving normally although there is some shortage of diesel fuel, but there may be some "knock on" affects by the action in Belgium, Holland and the UK. Here (is a link) you may find useful.... http://www.airsecurity.com/hotspots/HotSpots.asp ..this gives a regular update of trouble spots worldwide and they have a regular piece on the fuel problems in Europe which seems to be up-dated every few hours. – Tony, in Nizas, France, France Voila, online newsletter, 13 September '00 The latest news is that all the unions involved in the blockage have instructed their members to clear the roads and stop the blockade of the refineries. Some of the refineries are now open and delivering fuel to the garages. The rest are expected to follow. It seems some of the people manning the barricades are having a good time and don't wish to stop partying. But it is hoped that things will be back to normal after the weekend. If you are arriving this weekend, I have just checked with the car rental companies at Montpellier and they say that cars are being supplied with at least half a tank of fuel. Here, a few local flights were cancelled this morning, but none of the main flights were affected. CDG Paris has not been affected as it has it's own direct pipeline. Our biggest problem is that the bread van said it would not be delivering tomorrow. – Tony, in Nizas, France, France Voila, online newsletter, 9 September '00 INDEX OF STORM DAMAGE BY TRAIL & REGION: To my knowledge no Grande Randonnee trail is now closed (mid September) as a result of the two severe storms in December 1999, so I have relegated this information to the archive. But those walking in France will see the evidence of the unusually strong storms—views opened up, missing big trees, debris in the forest—for years to come. If you still wish to query the FFRP about damage to specific trails see e-mail to the FFRP.The information I was able to gather about damage to the forests and trails in the north and west of France is summarized just below in the index list. Multiple references to the same region are all mixed together in the various entries so I was not able reference each GR or each region specifically in this index. Therefor walkers researching damage should check below to see if I have information about the area you are interested in and then peruse the material that follows to find the specific reference or references. Below I have posted a general overview of storm damage |
| GR 1 near Paris GR 2 in Normandy GR 2 in Fontainebleau GR 4 in Limousin GR 5 in Jura GR 5 in Lorraine GR 22 in Normandy GR 36 in Dordogne GR 65 in Dordogne, Moissac GR 76 in Beaujolais GR 221 in Normandy back to top |
Aube Beaujolais Dordogne Fontainebleau Ile de France Jura Limousin Lorraine Lozère Normandy Paris Perigord Pyrénées Vendée Vosges |
| STORM DAMAGE LINKS: www.agriculture.gouv.fr/accueilv3.htm Specific info about state of forests. In French www.ifn.fr French forestry inventory www.onf.fr National office of French government forestry organization www.onf.fr/fontainebleau/actu.htm Pictures of storm damage in Fontainebleau forest STORM DAMAGE ON THE GR 5 IN THE JURA -... in the Jura (I) still had significant difficulties from Villers-le-Lac to Hopitaux-Neufs. Trees down. (Jeff walked this this section of the GR 5 in June–BLeF)– Jeff, Refuge Porte du Parc de Rosuel, France, postcard written 4 July '00, posted 20 July, STORM DAMAGE TO THE GR 76 IN THE BEAUJOLAIS - On GR 7 and GR 76 we did not encounter any windstorm damage but understand from other walkers (and there were very few in May) that in the Beaujolais area north of Lyon there was bad damage along GR 76.– Bob & Liz, Corvallis, Oregon, 25 June ‘00 FOREST & TRAIL CLOSURES - GR 5 IN LORRAINE - I had a phone call from "Jeff" who is on his way to the Mediterranean from Holland on the GR 5. After 61 days and 1300 kilometers of walking, he's now in the Vosges mountains in Alsace. He stated that, "As soon as I crossed the French border into the Lorraine region from Luxembourg, I ran into serious blowdowns that, in places, completely destroyed the trail and the trail markings. In one place it took me 2 hours to cover 1 kilometer, and, when I emerged and again found the trail, a sign was posted prohibiting entry. Lorraine in general was difficult walking; Alsace is better though there are still signs of damage here. Repairs to the paths are eveident" He added in a short e-mail on 5 June, "The trail (GR 5) is basically 95 percent open in Lorraine."For more about Jeff's walk see Jeff's GR 5 Walk below in this section. – Jeff, near Ribeauvillé, Alsace, 31 May, 5 June '00 FOREST & TRAIL CLOSURES - GRs 2 & 221 IN NORMANDY - I queried my friend B.D. in Paris about the state of the GRs in Normandy. Here's the response:Because of you, I had to contact the FFRP in Paris, and talk to one of the neanderthal men, straight from the woods that they have the exclusivity of! Truly, I don't know where these people come from. Each time I have to contact them, it is the same Kafkian experience. Well enough of this or I'll get uncharitable..... Here is what I found out: The FFRP told me that * In the département de l'Eure (where the GR 2 runs) 200 KM of sentiers (trails) still need to be treated. * In Seine-Maritime, all paths are open. * In the département de la Manche et du Calvados (where the GR 221 runs), there remains a few problems, which will be rapidly resolved. They also said that all the paths in Normandie will be open and practicable in the summer. (June 21st I suppose!) Then I got on the Normandy site http://www.normandy-tourism.org/fr/index.html, and got the address and phone number of the Comité Régional de Tourisme de Normandie - 14, rue Charles Corbeau, F27000 Evreux - Tel 33 2 32 33 79 00 - Fax 33 2 32 31 19 04. You shall find on that site the link 'Adresses utiles' on their home page. Each Central tourist comité of each department in Normandy is listed, with an e-mail address for communication. The Comité gave me the tel. numbers of the 2 large national parks that the GR 2 and 221 cross, namely le Parc de Bretonne et le Parc des marais du Cotentin. I called them, and they both said that all their paths are open and practicable with prudence. The Organisation National des Forets forwarded to them a sheet of instructions and what to watch for in the forests. – B.D., Paris, 30 May '00 back to top TRAIL & FOREST DAMAGE: GRs 2, 36 and 65 - Having walked in various places from the tempest on, I can give some comparative idea of the state of some forests :* Northern Dordogne was strictly devastated. The last kilometers of GR 36 arriving north of Périgueux were still impossible to use at the beginning of May and I had to follow the roads. Having begun my walk in the Charente (at Villebois-Lavalette) I had grossly the feeling of something getting worse and worse as far as I went further south. * In the Vendée, pine woods have badly suffered but are still possible to go across. Other trees survived quite well. * In the Pyrénées (the Baronnies near Bagnères-de-Bigorre), though not on the way of the tempest proper, a small number of trees have been taken off: not really a disturbance to walk, but a trace that the tempest really struck far in the south. * On GR 2 near Fontainebleau, things are less apocalyptic than in Dordogne. At places, going over dead trees is necessary, but the path was everywhere walkable. * Though in the Southwest, the part of GR 65 around Moissac was surprisingly in good condition in March; even near Montcuq/Lauzerte where the area is reasonably wooded, traces of the tempest were scarce, the same as in the Pyrénées say. * Absolutely no hint of the tempest in the southern Alps; no hint in French speaking Belgium (around Charleroi) either. As I have seen from the trains, the worse seem to be the stretch Périgueux-Limoges, where virtually every tree along the train track is dead. No surprise this line was among the last to reopen. – P.L., Lyon, France, 24 May '00 FOREST & PATH CLOSURES: DORDOGNE & GENERAL - About the state of the forests in France following the Christmas storms, the matter is rather puzzling.From our experience in South Dordogne, the paths in the forests have been totally cleared, and all the GR and PR are opened. It was quite amazing to see how rapidly they cleaned up everything and repainted all the way-marks. In contrast, one of my sisters just sent me a page of her newspaper giving a catastrophic account of the sentiers (trails) in France following the storms. Apparently, 40 000 km de sentiers sur les 100 000 recensés seraient impraticables (40,000 kilometers of trails out of the 100,000 kilometers that have been inventoried are unusable). But all the damages are concentrated in the regions of Poitou-Charentes, Limousin, Ile-de-France, Normandie et Lorraine (and parts of those miraculously escaped any damage). In Dordogne where we were, only the chestnut and pine forests of the North are still partly closed off (and that region is not a big attraction anyway). At present, all large tourist offices are able to give detailed information about the state of the surrounding forests. It seems best to direct people to these before hand. Also, more and more regions have web sites, and one can get lots of info (about forests included) from these. See for example the site of the Dordogne Tourist Department at www.perigord.tm.fr I don't remember if they have an English version though. – B.D., Paris, France, 23 May '00 back to top BALADES EN FRANCE MARCH SURVEY OF TRAIL DAMAGE: GRS 1, 4, 5, 22, 36, 65 AND MORE - The following is a summary in English of the information from an article, “Tour de France des Sentiers Après la Tempête (A Tour of French Trails Following the Storm),“ which appeared in the May-June issue of Balades en France, a French-language magazine dedicated to articles about walking in France. The magazine also maintains a web site, www.balades-france.fr , where the complete article, in French, is posted. For more information about the magazine and subscriptions, see the entry on the General Updates About Walking in France page. This survey should not discourage anyone from walking in France. First of all, the information—though it’s some of the most comprehensive we have—is old. It dates from March or very early April. Though gusts did hit 110 to 125 miles per hour in certain areas and though these winds caused, in some places, extensive damage, a great deal of work by volunteers from the FFRP and by employees of the various levels of government has improved the condition of the trails and trail markings that these extraordinary winds affected. In March the FFRP estimated that 15% the network of Grande Randonnee (GR) trails were affected, that is 6,500 miles out of 40,000 miles. Of that total only 1,250 miles of trail were totally destroyed. Of the local trails (PR) that had been surveyed at that time 6,500 miles of trail were unusable. The following is a region by region summary of trails affected but not destroyed by the storms: Lorraine and the Vosges Mountains- 85% of the paths affected (about 1,875 miles) including parts of the GR 5 connecting Amsterdam and Nice. (I call your attention to Jeff’s experience in Lorraine above. In May he walked the full length of the GR 5 there.) Limousin- 70% of the itineraries in forested areas (about 1,250 miles), including parts of the GR 4. Lower and Upper Normandy- 60% of the routes situated in forested areas (around 1,250 miles) including sections of the GR 22 in the Orne department between Paris and Mont-St-Michel and parts of the GR 36 (Tour of the Auge Countryside) in the Calvados department. (The latest information from the FFRP indicates that "all trails in Normandy will be open by summer," that is, by now.) Lozère- 190 miles of the department’s 1,250 miles of marked trails. Le Mont Lozère, l’Aubrac and les Causses were spared because these areas are lightly wooded. Conversely, the Margaride forest near St-Flour, north of the GR 65, the Saint-Jaques trail and parts of the GR 4 were all affected. Aube- It seems that 30% of the marked network of trails was damaged, but almost all are still usable. Specifically the places affected were the Orient Forest toward Bar-sur-Aube and the Othe Forest near Troyes. 95% of the network is walkable. Dordogne- 60% of the GR trails in the forests (about 650 miles) were damaged. The local trails (PRs) were heavily damaged. The balance sheet drawn up in March suggests that 80% of the trails in the Périgord Verte are unusable, 20% of the trails in Périgord Noir were affected and that 60% of the trails in Périgord Blanc were affected. The Vézelay Way in Périgueux was impractical. (See more information on Périgord above from B.D and P.L.) Ile-de-France- 70% of the routes located in the forests all around Paris (650 miles). were damaged. The GR 1 trail is severed in several places, specifically in the forests of Meudon, Rambouillet, Marly and Fontainebleau. Remember, this survey was current in March or very early April. Much work has been done and the situation has improved greatly. Use the above information only as an alert to the possibility of problems on the trails mentioned. Also, be sure to read the more current if less complete updates just above. – Summary from Balades en France, April/May '00 issue, posted 28 June '00 back to top FOREST CLOSURES UPDATE - EMPHASIS PÉRIGORD (Early March e-mail from B.D.) - (Below is the text of an e-mail I received from a friend in Paris who is a very active walker. I found the FFRP (no longer - BLeF 23 May 00) and the ONF web-sites the most useful, but specific information is still very hard to come by. - BLeF)Ah la la la la la France. This is a perfect example of this centralized country that is more concerned in keeping the power within the centralized structure than serving its citizen...! I recently went thru the same search as you did for information about the forests and their accessibility, particularly in Dordogne/Périgord as M. and I are leaving in 10 days for 1 month of itinerary scouting (for GRs) in that region (we shall be on bikes). We have planned this for a long time, and cannot really change our dates, but of course if the forest are closed off to walkers and cyclists, there isn't much point. In any case, the general Arrêté Préfectoral (prefectoral decision) that was issued after the storm about keeping out of all forest has been lifted. The instructions are now to contact the préfectures régionales and the communes to find out what the decisions are locally....... Great! The main sites that I have visited—Office national des forêts, www.onf.fr (English version available), the FFRP, the ministère de l'agriculture, the Inventaire forestier national, www.ifn.fr—are all concerned about the cleanup, the special financial help to les agriculteurs, the percentage of trees fallen by category, etc. etc., but nothing about which foot paths are open and which are not. When I called the FFRP in Paris, they gave me the number of their correspondent in Dordogne/Périgord who could only tell me that the area the most destroyed (80 %) was le Périgord vert (the chestnut forest in the North of Périgord). She confirmed the lift of the national ban to enter forests, and said that the South Périgord was in better shape than the North, and that I had to call the Maire (mayor) of the towns to know more. I'll give you a complete report about Dordogne when we return in mid-April (see the report above), but by then the information will be more available I am sure. – B.D., Paris, France, 6 March '00 FOREST & TRAIL CLOSURES IN SPRING OF 2000 FOLLOWING VIOLENT WINTER STORMS - It appears that now—7 September '00—that no trails remain closed, though walkers are sure to see signs of the damage in the areas that were affected. On the FFRP website, www.ffrp.asso.fr/, there is an e-mail box where queries about specific trails can still be made. I'm not sure exactly how long this service has been available, but all I can say is, It's about time. The FFRP is a rather stodgy organization heavily influenced by the old guard, the venerables, who did such a wonderful job establishing and expanding the French trail system but who, at the same time, are reluctant to adopt new technologies like the web or credit cards. Happily on my last visit to the Paris office I talked with some of the younger acolytes who are trying to drag the FFRP, kicking and screaming, into at least the latter half of the 20th century. This e-mail query box is undoubtedly their work. Back to the subject. To summarize: on the 26th, 27th and 28th of December 1999, there were two extreme and unusual storms in France, the first in the north and the second in the southwest. In some areas these tempetes absolutely devastated the forests and the GR trails that pass through those forests. At first the regions most damaged seemed to be Normandy, the Dordogne, the Loire and the Ile-de-France (Paris), but subsequent e-mail as well as an article in Balades suggested that the trails in Lorraine, Alsace, Poitou-Charente, Limousin as well as Normandy, the Dordogne and the Ile-de-France had been the most affected. The clearing, re-marking and re-opening of paths took place all spring and into the summer, but quite naturally the harvest of downed timber took and is still taking precedent. To be sure, the damage to trails within the affected areas was spotty with, sometimes, almost total destruction in one area and almost none nearby. Vacationers planning a walk in France last spring needed detailed information, but unfortunately it was very hard to come by. The forestry sites (linked here and in the e-mail messages in the Archive section) gave general information, most of it pertaining to the cleanup of the downed timber (chablis in French). A web site like www.agriculture.gouv.fr/accueilv3.htm offered estimates and statistics— 3.75% of all trees in France are down, since the larger trees were most affected over 7% of usable timber is on the ground, some areas wont be cleaned up and open until the spring of 2001, etc. Many thanks to Jeff, B.D. and P.L. who took the time to send specific information about the paths. It really helped. Again I stress that, according to the information now available, there should be little or NO PROBLEM from storm damage for walkers on the any GR trail in France. – BLeF 18 Feb, 6 March, 23, 24, 25, 30 May, 4, 28 June, updated 7, 14 September '00 E-MAILS TO THE FFRP FOR QUERIES ABOUT STORM DAMAGE - On the FFRP website, www.ffrp.asso.fr/, there is an e-mail box where queries about damage to specific trails as a result of the two extraordinary storms in December '99 can be made. I'm not sure exactly how long this service has been available, but all I can say is, It's about time. The FFRP is a rather stodgy organization heavily influenced by the old guard—the venerables—who did such a wonderful job establishing and expanding the French trail system but who, at the same time, are reluctant to adopt new technologies like the web or credit cards. Happily on my last visit to the Paris office I talked with some of the younger acolytes who are trying to drag the FFRP, kicking and screaming, into at least the latter half of the 20th century. This e-mail query box is undoubtedly their work.To access the information I have been able to gather about the storms and damage go to the Archive. – BLeF, 7 September, '00 back to top SITE CONTENTS * HOME * LINKS * OVERVIEW * UPDATES MAIN PAGE * |
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