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| GENERAL UPDATES ABOUT WALKING IN FRANCE:  17 JANUARY EXCHANGE RATE - $1.00 US = .942 euros (1 euro = 6.58 francs, a rate set in stone) - The dollar continues its decline vis-à-vis the euro, due to our sagging economy and uncertainties about a possible war with Iraq.– BLeF, exchange rate from the 17 January New York Times ONLINE LISTING FOR INTERNET CAFES IN EUROPE - The site http://www.kiosek.com/eurocybercafes/hfra.html lists 93 internet cafes in France plus a few more that are e-mail only, For those walking the full length of the GR 5 cyber-cafes in Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland can be found at http://www.kiosek.com/eurocybercafes/e_pages.html– BLeF, 14 March '02 MORE ABOUT PRE-ARRANGED WALKING VACATIONS - On 18 February, JMS called my attention to another good site for those searching for a pre-arranged, unguided walking vacation, www.sentiersdefrance.com. This French company offers a variety of walks in all the regions of France, usually one week in duration though they can customize for longer or shorter trips. They claim to be upscale with accommodations in two and three star hotels. Prices, which run from about $70 to $90 a day include lodging, half board and luggage hauling. I have not used this company but would appreciate hearing from someone who has. Their site is very interesting. See below for caveats about taking a prearranged vacation.– BLeF and JMS, 12 March '02 FRENCH EVENTS CALENDAR - I've just run across a useful site: www.whatsonwhere.com. It lists all sorts of events—gastronomic, classical music, rock concerts, garden shows, gay and lesbian, etc—all over France.– BLeF, 8 January '02 TAKING TAXIS - Taxis: (I know, this is about walking, but sometimes, if you want a place to sleep, you gotta call a cab.) The meter starts running WHEN THE CABBY ANSWERS THE PHONE. More than once I've paid 200FF ($28 or 30.5 euros) for a 3 or 5 mile cab ride. Call the cab, ask them to come get you, and they start charging from where ever they are. I have found absolutely no way to feel good about this. If it hadn't happened so many times (and I'd had so little trouble with people being dishonest here) I'd still think that I was being taken. I don't think I am. I just think this is a country of paradoxes. Birth control pills cost less than chewing gum. Go figure. It's a different country.– Johm B., Seattle and Aix-en-Provence, 13 December '01 WEBSITE BY AN INVETERATE WALKER - GR 4 DIARY - Those of you who visit this site frequently have undoubtedly read the detailed and helpful answers given by Pierre L. from Lyon to some of the questions that have been posted on the Queries page. Pierre L.—or Pierre Lavaurs as I can now write—has just mounted a fine website, www.lavaurs.com/enMain, where he has posted, so far, a extensive day-by-day photo and text diary of his walk across France from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean on the GR 4, a walk in England and a walk in the Italian Alps. The site has a French and an English version; this link is to the one in English. In the future M. Lavaurs promises to post similar diaries for other walks. Click the map button on his home page to see an astounding depiction of all the walks he has done. He certainly has great deal of material to draw on. "Inveterate walker" may be an understatement.– BLeF, 11 December '01 A DIARY: WALKING ACROSS FRANCE NORTH TO SOUTH IN STAGES - For the past six years, my wife and I have been engaged in walking from the Channel to the Mediterranean using GR paths. Each year we have walked for between 7 and 10 days—each year starting from where we had finished the previous year.So far we have followed the GR36 from Ouistreham to Saumur, the GR 3 to the start of the GR 46 just south of Tours, the GR 46 from Tours to its junction with the GR4, just east of Aubusson and the GR4 from here to Super-Lioran. In Sept 2002 we plan to cover yet more of the GR4 from Super-Lioran to Les Vans in Ardeche. We eventually will complete our walk by crossing Mont Ventoux then following the GR 9 & GR 98 to reach the sea at Cassis. On current performance this will be in 2004. If anybody needs detailed accommodation schedules and distances covered I am happy to oblige. If anybody has useful information about the rest of our route, I would be delighted to receive it. We have stayed at a marvellous selection of hotels, B & Bs and Gites d'etape along the way and have found the paths easy (apart from the terrible damage caused by the Christmas tempest) to navigate and people—few and far between outside the Massif Central—friendly and good-humoured. I would recommend the GR network to anybody for a short walk or a long trail. When we've finished the Channel to the Med we start on an east-west Lorraine to Brittany via the Jura, Massif Central, Loire and the Brittany coast to Finisterre sounds fine to me. (Steve's diary covering the first 4 stages of his walks on the GRs 36, 3 and 46 are posted on their own page - BLeF) – Steve E., England, 6 December '01 KINDNESS OF THE FRENCH WHILE WALKING - People often ask us if the French are rude. (Do people ask you that too?) I've got some quasi-intellectual theories that are, frankly of little interest, but the truth of the matter is that people here are very nice to us. Maybe I just look pathetic, I don't know. People aren't this nice to me at home. Maybe it's because my French is so poor that I'm a better listener in French than English. I really can't say, but on every single trip, at least twice, someone has offered us a ride. One young man in Burgundy walked with us for 90 minutes along the tow path of the canal, in the rain, just to make sure we knew where we were going . . . And only after I convinced him that he didn't need to go get his grandmother to drive us.– John B., Seattle and Aix-en-Provence, 6 November '01 SHERPA SERVICES AND REFLECTIONS ON THE WALKING EXPERIENCE - I have read a few posts here regarding luggage-hauling or sherpa services while walking in France (see below), and I would like to persuade anyone who is considering that to avoid it! My one and only village-to-village walking tour through the Perigord convinced me that packing light and carrying all your own stuff is the only way to go. Here's why.Walking the countryside is not only a way to get some exercise and see quaint villages. It is a throwback to the original form of travel and transportation that existed before the Industrial Revolution. It becomes a quest for personal discovery and a challenge of independence. There is a distinct swelling of personal pride and accomplishment in knowing that you are on your own. This would all be lost if your trek were aided by a guide or a luggage-transport service. Before motorized transport, everybody walked the same paths that you will be navigating. Only the well-to-do could afford so much as a horse and cart. Peasants, peddlars, priests, workers, and musicians all traveled by foot, carrying all their belongings on their backs. You will be carrying on a long-lost method of travel. You who have already visited Europe—how many times have you been in a castle or cathedral and pondered, "I feel as though I were back in the middle ages!" And then you get in your car and drive to the next castle. Walking these age-old paths is the way to go back in time and history, and continue an ancient tradition. It can't be done any more slowly. In effect, the traveler on foot is an extension of a romantic ideal. The itinerant, the way-farer, the wanderer—this is a figure that cuts a large swath across the seldom-written history of Europe's common classes. When you put that pack on, and unfold your map, you have no more tools at your disposal than a peasant did 200 or 300 years ago. You will be respected. The people I met in France were impressed that someone would still walk their countryside. Groups of bicycle tourists were in awe. While walking the paths sounds difficult, it really isn't. And there are few words to describe what everyone else is missing out on. During my trek I reflected frequently on the hours and days I had spent on previous vacations, waiting in train stations and arranging other transportation. What a waste! I realized that I had been only scratching the surface of the genuine travel experience, like looking at photos in a book. I would like to offer one solid tip: put your watch away. While on my village-to-village trek, I began by nervously looking to see what time it was. Clock time is rarely relevant. I learned to judge the passing of the day by the angle of the sun in the sky, or how fatigued or hungry I felt. Imagine yourself as a peasant making the long journey to another village, circa 1700. Ignoring your watch will take you even further down the path of original travel. Happy trails! – Kurt K., Oregon, 10 October '01 GENERAL THOUGHTS ON LODGING, WALKING IN AUGUST - My wife and I finished a 10 day trip in Normandy on August 18 and we've just returned from spending 10 days walking the GR 34 on the Cote d'Emeraude in Brittany (well six days walking; two days touring.) Here are a few thoughts (opinions really.) I'll try to be brief...You mention in your book that travelling in high season (August) is tough but doable. We found this to be the case. We did not make any hotel reservations and because of that, spend about four hours during the 8 days on the phone looking for lodging. I'm positive we'd still be on a park bench near the American cemetary if I didn't speak French. Because we're doing a bunch of these trips (grace a M. LeFavour) we're doing it on the cheap. Here's what cheap looks like; 300 FF for a double in a two star hotel. Michellin is the bible. Logis de France has been less consistent, but when good, excellent. Breakfast is 40FF +/- each. Take it. For one thing, it may be the only way you get American kinda coffee (cafe au lait) during the whole trip -- (one could tote a coffee machine. . .) During the off season, the hotels will sometimes offer you the demi-pension (dinner, breakfast, and the room) for about 300 each. This is generally a good deal and you should take it if you can get them to offer. Generally, this is the best of all possible worlds when we were in a smallish town (although, not tiny. Tiny town means either bring food with you (ha!) or eat anything you can get your hands on. So, all in, in a small hotel, figure 600FF. I really like the chambre d'hôte's for a number of reasons. First, I'll tell you what's bad about them. Quality of the rooms is inconsistent. Quality of the people if VERY consistent. Turns out, not many jerks want to run a bed and breakfast and welcome the great unwashed masses into their homes. My favorite thing about the CD's is that it's nice to meet someone from the area, chat with them a little bit about life in the village etc. Never get this at a hotel. And, the rooms are bigger. While this is not terribly important to me (turns out that I'm fairly tuckered after walking 12 to 15 miles so all I want is food and bed) it may be important to some. And, it is nice to have a little more room to spread out. Particularly as you reach day three or four. Whatever point it occurs to you that you'll likely need to seek medical attention if you don't wash your socks, that's the day that a little bigger room will be nice. Oddly, on these trips I've asked myself, "Gee this is nice. Why is it that I don't sit about at home with my shirts, socks, underwear, etc strewn about me?" :) (See more from John on the "Equipment" and "Maps" pages.) – John B., Seattle & Aix-en-Provence, 7 October '01 FREQUENCY OF ATMs - One question I do have is--on the long Provence walk, how common do you think it will be to come across ATMs in the towns? Will we see one every day of the walk...?– Jennie Van H. - 26 September '01 – From BLeF - As for the frequency of ATMs, it depends on where you will be walking. In general ATMs are located in villages that, at one time, were large enough to have a branch bank. Now, in all but the largest towns and cities, these branches have been closed and replaced with ATM machines. Therefor, in the more remote areas with predominately small villages that never had a bank (the Massif Central or the high Alps, say), you won't find ATMs every day. In heavily populated areas like the Loire or on GR 1 around Paris, however, you'd find them frequently. With a star enabled bank card, you should be able to withdraw about $300 in francs or, soon, euros every 3 days from your own bank account; two of you with separate cards on different accounts would be able to have $600 every 3 days. Make sure your access pin number does not begin with a zero since such pins don't work in Europe. DRAWING WHILE WALKING WEBSITE - Bruno Molliere in Lyon, France, maintains an interesting site for those French-speaking walkers who also like to sketch and draw when they walk. Go to www.randocroquis.com.– BLeF, 13 September '01 LUGGAGE HAULING - My partner and I are planning to walk from Dijon or Beaune to Villefranche (or as close as we can get in two weeks), in September—per the suggestions in your book. As the time gets nearer, we are wondering if there isn't some way to dispense with backpacks altogether and have their contents transported from hotel to hotel by some means. Taxi? Train between nearest towns? Would you have any thoughts about this?– Mark B., San Francisco, CA, 9 August '01 – From BLeF - Outside of the pack hauling offered by some tour companies (see Dessaux) I don't know of any sort of Sherpa service per se in France. Sometimes the hotel or B&B owner will voluntarily haul your packs forward, but this is not something you can count on every day. My advice is to pack very carefully, keeping the weight to an absolute minimum—it's amazing how little you really need. You'll be surprised how easy it is to carry a well designed and carefully fitted light pack. However, I think a taxi might work if you absolutely don't want to carry anything more than a light day pack with a sweater, camera and picnic. It certainly would add some expense to your trip, but country taxies are relatively cheap in France. You'd have to make arrangements each evening to have your pack picked up the next day, and then you'd have to walk on to your destination no matter what because your luggage would be there. However, I'd still pack as if I were going to carry everything every day and I'd still keep it as light as possible in case, on occasion, no taxi was available. WALKING IN ENGLAND COMPARED TO WALKING IN FRANCE - Last summer we hiked the Coast to Coast Trail in England from St. Bee's Head to Robin Hood Bay. We would like to hike in France in Spring 2002. I am wondering how the trails in France compare to the Coast to Coast Walk in England. Is there someone out there who has hiked on both? I would appreciate your comments. Also we used a Sherpa service to haul our packs from one night's lodging to the next? Does something similar exist in France? How well sign posted are the GR's and is it necessary to secure permission from private land owners before crossing their property? Any information someone is willing to share would be helpful and appreciated.– Cindy, Anchorage, Alaska, 5 August '01 – From BLeF - I myself have never walked in England so I can't compare the two trail systems. Every time I consider a walk in England, the prospect of eating French food has won out hands down over noshing pub food. But I can assure you that in France you'll find the paths extremely well marked, mapped and maintained. Also, unlike England, there is no resistance by local landowners to people crossing their land on the established paths (GRs) even though they lead at times through vineyards, fields and even backyards. In France, the very fact that the established and marked path exist gives everyone permission to use them without asking. And there are 110,000 miles of marked and maintained trails! I don't know of any Sherpa services per se. Rarely, hotel or bed & breakfast owners will, on their own, offer to carry your baggage ahead but this is nothing you can count on. But I do know that, if you pay any one of a number of firms to arrange your on-your-own walk coupled with a set itinerary (see Dessaux and Benedicte below), then pack hauling, along with your meals and hotels, are included in the price. – Answer from Pierre L., Lyon, France, 10 August '01 - I have now walked a bit in England too (not including the Coast to Coast, but including half of the Pennine Way). There are no very significant differences between walking in Great-Britain and in France. Whatever Bruce LeFavour may write, pub food is not so bad as he thinks. Clearly one of the main differences is the attitude of rurals towards rights of access; in England, getting off the path can be taken as badly irrelevant by the locals, in France you'll get redirected with a smile. Waymarking is much more present in France, I would say even a bit aggressive, comparing to the English mode. Others pros of France are the easyness to find water (as soon as you are in a reasonably hilly area, fountains are plenty) and to find a morning coffee. Weather is certainly better on average, though I appreciate finding cooler temperatures in Britain in summer (ten days ago, I was walking there, all papers making their headlines about temperatures reaching 30 C while SW France was at 38 C...) I was surprised to find the Pennine Way much less demanding than I expected reading the guidebooks (but I managed to find a week of excellent weather); it clearly means than the difficulties of English paths are mainly of navigational type; you'll get more brutal slopes in France! MORE ABOUT SELF-GUIDED BUT ARRANGED WALKING TOURS - THE DORDOGNE - As I state in a discussion below, this site and my book, France on Foot, are intended to help an individual or a group walk on their own without the help of tour companies. But for those who want some help planning and arranging a walk and even for those who would appreciate a guided tour, I've just learned about a new France-based company offering such walks in the Dordogne.Bénédicte Denizet, an experienced walker living in Paris, is a long-time friend who, along with her partner Englishman Michael Leslie, has just started a business called Les Chemins d'Europe. This September and October they are offering four week-long tours (eight persons maximum) in the Dordogne, an area they both know very well. Two of the tours are accompanied, and two are pre-arranged but self-guided. I have not met Michael, but Bénédicte is a friendly, intelligent woman who smiles easily. She likes good honest food based on what is fresh and in season—their itineraries include stays at a ferme-auberge and carefully chosen small family-run hotels serving local specialties. Knowing Bénédicte, you will eat well. Tours also include visits to many historic and pre-historic sites. Given the high quality of the hotels and restaurants, the all-included price for these seven-day walks seems reasonable—$950 per person for the self-guided tours and $1250 for the tours guided by Bénédicte and Michael. To learn the details and to obtain a brochure, e-mail Bénédicte at bdenizet@compuserve.com, call her at 33 1 42 23 19 34 (having lived and worked in the US, she speaks perfect English), fax her at 33 1 53 28 00 49 or write to her at 11, rue Robert Planquette, 75018, Paris, France. A website is in the works but not yet in operation. I do not normally recommend hotels, restaurants or tours that I have not experienced personally, but just knowing Bénédicte is enough for me to give these programs a big thumbs up. – BLeF, 26 July '01 WHERE TO RUN IN THE MAJOR FRENCH CITIES - Many who walk also run for exercise, and this site, www.runtheplanet.com/, gives detailed descriptions of places to run in 12 of France's major cities (and 2043 other cities around the world). Also, there's a large datbase of links to walking and running sites.– BLeF, 21 June '01 PHONE NUMBER FOR MOUNTAIN RESCUE IN THE ALPS AND ELSEWHERE - What are the phone numbers for mountain rescue in the Alps? 2 of us are going for 2 months and we're taking a French-compatible cell phone.– Jack A., England, 31 May '01 – From BLeF, 31 May, 28 June '01 - After some time searching on the internet, I found the information you need: The phone number—when using a mobile phone anywhere in Europe—is 112. When calling from a regular phone in France, it seems that the number for an ambulance is 15 and for the police is 17. A resource that lists individual local "mountain rescue" numbers in many of the towns in France's southern high country—the Alps, Massif Central, Pyrénées and Corsica—as well as in Swiss and Spanish towns that are near the French border is the Didier-Richard website at www.didierrichard.fr. Click on "Secours en montagne" near the bottom of the opening page. BACKUP PLANS IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER - The best time to hike anywhere in the mountains is the summer, but it is also more crowded, too, and often hot in some places which makes carrying extra water essential. We prefer the late spring and fall, as airline prices are better then and crowds are few, but you take your chances with the weather.That is why I recommend to hikers that they have a back-up area or two to hike in so their trip is not ruined. One can always hike from castle to castle in the Dordogne or chateau to chateau in the Loire. Beaux village to beaux village in Provence, etc. France, as you know, is an amazing place to travel in. Wish it was not so far away. – Mark Beffart, Walking Tours of France, (www.francewalkingtours.com), 30 May '01 DOGS ON THE TRAIL - Any hints about avoiding attracting the attention of dogs? Several cycling trips to France (involving speedy pedalling away from protective rural dogs) have made us a little wary of venturing out on foot in France, even though we enjoy walking in England (where most rural dogs seem to protect but not pursue!)– W., 18 May '01, England – From BLeF - First, let me assure everyone that 99.9% of the dogs in France are restrained, either behind a fence or on a chain. It's the rare .1% that we're talking about here. When I first contemplated walking in France I too was worried about encountering a loose dog. Previous to discovering the path system I bicycled somewhere in France almost every year and was, like you, chased down many a lane by very fast, seemingly aggressive dogs. But when I switched from bicycling to walking I found that French dogs were less agressive toward those on foot than toward those on bikes—there must be something about a spinning wheel and speed that sets some dogs off. When walking I do carry a walking stick and, whenever a loose barking dog approaches I tap the end on the ground to call the dog's attention to it (French dogs do seem to be stick-savvy) while trying to maintain eye contact with the animal as I continue to walk along my way. This keeps the dog at bay until it loses interest in the matter after I have left what it considers to be its territory. I've never had to actually use the stick to fend off a dog. In my experience, vis-à-vis those on foot French dogs also "protect but don't pursue." GENERAL METHOD FOR FINDING DAY HIKES - Many people like Diane C. below write to this site asking for recommendations for day walk itineraries around specific towns or in certain areas. It's impossible for me to make specific recommendations from here, but there is a method for finding the trails around most towns that will certainly work at least 95% of the time. My husband and I are going to be in Provence for three weeks, beginning June 12th. Most of the trip is in off the beaten path areas. We are going to be following the "lavander route" which takes us around Pays du Valensole, Pays de Forcalquier, Pay du Sault et du Ventoux and Pay 'd Apt et le Luberon. We will be staying in the following towns: St. Paul de Vence, Mezel, Valensole, Forcacquier, Aurel, a town in the Drome, St. Remy and Villefranche. My question for you is, can you recommend any walks to us. Most of the information in guides and on the web is on the GR's. They are too long for us. We are interested in short hikes (under 3 hours) because I have a bad back. We would especially like recommendations in the lavander areas. – Diane C., 11 April '01 – From BLeF - The best way to find shorter walks anywhere in France is, after you arrive in a town, to make inquiries at the Syndicat d'Initiative (the combination Chamber of Commerce/Tourist Bureau). They will have maps and listings of the various walks around their town, which they will give you or sell for a nominal fee. If, to supplement the infor from the Syndicat, you buy at the local newspaper or bookstore the detailed IGN "blue map" (see "Maps" on the website for explanation) for the area, you'll have everything you need to take many, many walks around almost any town in France. There are also a variety of guidebooks in French published by the FFRP some of which cover short walks in various areas (they should also be available in the local bookstores), and these can also be very helpful if you happen to be in an area that's covered. Available here in the States and abroad as well is another excellent resource for information about day walks in all the areas of France: the recently published Lonely Planet guidebook, Walking in France. back to top FRENCH AND ENGLISH COMPANIES OFFERING UNACCOMPANIED ORGANIZED WALKS - This site and my book are dedicated to the proposition that a walk in France should be an independent venture, that is, a trip planned and organized by the people taking the walk. That way, not only do they walk their preferred itinerary, but they also experience the freedom that only an unscripted wander through the French countryside can offer. Certainly such a trip takes planning and research beforehand—mostly making your own guidebook with a list of hotels and restaurants on or near your proposed route—but that seems to me to be a small price to pay for the freedom gained when doing it on your own.Having said that, I can understand that some busy people who want to walk on their own might also want some of the burden of planning and organizing a trip taken off their hands. Here in the States most (but not quite all) companies selling "walking vacations" offer instead glorified day-walking programs that most often consist of a week or ten days of short walks with guides and a large group of people out of two or three luxe hotels. Transport between those hotels is usually in a van. The price for these programs is high, often thousands of dollars. But there is a compromise between the luxe and the do-it-all-on-your-own. Many English and French companies will, for a modest fee, set two or more people off on their own over a set itinerary. Their hotels, B&Bs and/or gîte accommodations along that itinerary will be reserved ahead, and those rooms as well as demi-pension (breakfast and dinner) meals are included in the price they pay at the beginning. Yes, anyone using one of these programs would sacrifice some flexibility. They would have to walk on to the next place even if it were raining hard, but they would not be walking with a group of strangers and, without having to worry about the details, they would know that a bed and a meal awaited them at the end of the day's walk. And, as an added bonus, many of these firms arrange to transport your luggage from one lodging to the next. I bring all of this up because I get quite a few queries about organized tours and because today I received an e-mail from Nicolas Dessaux, the owner of Chemins du Sud, www.cheminsdusud.com, a comapny proposing just such walks in the Luberon, in the Cevennes and on the St-Jacques-de-Compostelle trail from Le Puy to the Spanish border (in stages). As an example of what is offered, his seven-day-six-night Luberon trip costs, per person, 2800 FF or about $400 US at current rates and includes meals and stays in one and two star hotels as well as B&Bs. For 2300 FF per person, about $315, you can walk the same itinerary, but with meals and sleeps in gîtes d'étape. Each day's walk is from four to six hours long and includes some altitude gain and loss. Baggage forwarding from accommodation to accommodation is included in this price. All in all, if you don't want to plan your own trip and if you don't mind losing some freedom of choice, prices seem very reasonable for what you would get in return. (Please be advised that I have not used M. Dessaux's services and that I am citing him here only as an example of the itineraries and prices offered by a whole slew of French and English companies. To find others see the French walking magazine, Balades, or, among many sites, www.hejoly.demon.nl/ and www.randonnee.net/ .) See also top and above. – BLeF, 24 February '01 back to top LEARNING FRENCH, STOCKPILING LUGGAGE - While touring the region of Provence for five weeks last September, my wife and I would take the walking tours marked by the parallel white and red lines for a few hours. We saw the feasibility of doing this on a longer tour of 10-14 days; however the issue of carrying a backpack came up. I and my wife are in good physical condition (I: 56, she:54). We figure that we could leisurely walk 10-15 miles a day. What has worked for others? Stock pile baggage in a central location and then take a train to the starting point and walk to the central point and then once again go out another spoke heading back to the central point once again.? I am surprised and delighted that my wife was willing to do this, for it requires a little 'roughing it'. Also, neither of us speak beyond the merci and restaurant menu level of French. We would like to learn more French to deepen our experience. What approach would you recommend? Conversational French, University College French? Berlitz? We had traveled with a couple for a few weeks (who) spoke somewhat fluid French and it made a big difference in our appreciation and experience. In fact, we made friends with another French couple. Language cut off sharing more deeply though. Anyway, we caught the bug and want to return to savor the scene and food.– K.C., 8 November '00 – Response from RMW, Georgia, 18 January '01 - If you and your wife are age 56 and 54, you should be able to walk anywhere without stock piling luggage for 14-15 days, if you are in good physical condition. I have done a lot of walking in U. K. carrying a 25 pound back pack, sometimes across the high moors of North Yorkshire, and I am fast approaching my 79th birthday. Just pack lightly with the bare essentials, dress appropriately, and plan to spend your nights in a hotel or B & B. Store your heavy luggage at your departure point and return to it later. As to the French Language, I plan now to walk in the Loire Valley sometime in 2001 and I have prepared by using Foreign Service Institute tapes, and my college French text book. plus I went to France in May 2000 for 3 weeks of intensieve study at the Ecole Trois Ponts language school at Roanne, which is near Lyon. The course has given me the confidence that I can survive in France without an interpreter and I think the French people will accept my limitations. I am doing my planning by careful study of the well written book, France on Foot. I do not plan to sleep on the ground or stock pile luggage, because my physical condition is good enough to walk that 15-20 miles necessary to find housing and meals. For the school at Roanne, check the web site at 3ponts.edu Good luck on your trip. If you think you can, you can. – Earlier From BLeF - I learned my French way back in the 1950's so I am not really the one to ask about contemporary language courses. My own experience when trying to start on another language (Thai, German) is that a personal native-of-the-country-you're-studying instructor in your home town is the best and, in the end, the most affordable. But, of course, it depends on the person—their willingness to drill you, to correct you and to push you forward without, at the same time, becoming too drill-instructor obnoxious or, the opposite, too forgiving and namby-pamby apologetic. Just because a person is from France doesn't necessarily mean that they can teach French. Otherwise I would suggest as much time as you can afford in France where you can find (internet) many intensive language courses held in various towns and cities throughout the country. The best is to study and live in the culture that speaks the language you're trying to learn. But be sure to get a course that's taught with a conversational, not grammatical methodology. The French tend to be rather academic when it comes to language instruction, and a short, boring course in grammar is not what you need. Also, in your car and/or at home listen as often as you can to a good set of French tapes. It's amazing what you'll learn over time just through repetition. Also, you'll gain an "ear" for the language. back to top SERENDIPITY WHEN WALKING IN FRANCE - In October M.R. completed his second walk this year on the GRs in Provence. You can read about his experiences on both the Restaurants and Accommodations and the Specific News From & About the Paths pages.One of the beauties of France on foot is that there seemingly are always options. Admittedly it is rude to throw yourself at the mercy of the populace, but they often voluntarily go out of their way to help you, and some of the situations you get into turn out to be highlights of the trip. – M.R., 2 November '00 MOUNTAIN WALKING LATE IN SEASON - I am wanting to do a 4- 5 day long distance hike in France in the middle week of Oc—preferably in the mountains—do you have any ideas?– Robyn, 19 September, England – From BLeF - Mountain travel can be difficult during October because, as the days get shorter, the weather can turn wintery. Snow, even blizzard conditions can arrive quickly in France's high country. If you must travel in the mountains, one suggestion I would have would be to walk on the GR 22 in the Parc du Normandie-Maine west of Paris. Here the maximum altitude is only 1368 feet. These are hills, I suppose, not mountains, but the countryside is beautiful. WEATHER IN FRANCE - As winter approaches I've been getting queries from travelers wanting to take a fall walking vacation. Quite understandibly they are concerned about weather, particularly if they are planning a walk in France's high country. The best weather site I have found is a French one, www.meteo.fr/temps/. Beside the usual forecasts for the cities and regions of France, it also features a page—click on "Hte. Montagne"— where three records—temperature, wind and snow cover—for selected high-altitude weather stations in the Alps, Corsica and Pyrenees are accessible. The charts which appear when you click on the name of the weather station are easy to understand. They cover over a one-month period for each station, so it is possible to see trends and to at least guess whether enough snow has fallen to close the high passes.– BLeF, 7 September '00 back to top WOMAN WALKING ALONE - I'm interested in doing a 10-14 day tour in August preferably in the mountains, where I can enjoy good weather, beautiful nature and not too many people (using a tent is ok).I'm going by myself and have some experience hiking, but never quite alone. Any suggestions? – K.R., Israel, 22 July '00 – From BLeF - I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to say. In August—when everyone in Europe is on vacation—the mountains of France, that is the Alps, Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees or the Massif Central, are likely to be peopled, at least when compared to anything you may have experienced elsewhere. Second, though I myself have never felt the least bit threatened while walking in France, I would hesitate to recommend that a single woman walk or, specially, camp alone. I would suggest finding inexpensive lodging in a mountain towm—a gîte de séjour or a gîte d'étape, say—and then doing day walks from this base. Many of these places charge as lttle as $20 a day for a comfortable private room. Get the Gîtes d'Etape et du Séjour guidebook from England or France (see links). It sounds as if you are looking for a wilderness experience in France similar to what you might find in the Rockies or Sierra Nevada here in the US. Frankly, it doesn't exist, but I would suggest that the reason for travel to a foreign country is not to avoid people and things civilized, but to meet people and immerse yourself in the culture. This doesn't mean that you can't have a great walk with beautiful mountain scenery, but in the French Alps you will be in very civilized mountains that have been used for centuries by shepherds, woodsmen, and now tourists. CHANGING MONEY IN FRANCE - We are getting very close to our trip, so naturally, we have some last minute questions. The question of the day is, will we be able to use travelers checks in rural areas? We don't want to take much, if any cash with us. We are concerned of what form of payment we will be able to give in smaller villages and campgrounds.– Tanya and Steve, Seattle, 18 July '00 – From BLeF – It's very hard, in fact almost impossible to cash travelers' checks in France's small villages. Long ago there were branches of all the French banks in every town large enough to have a downtown business section. There you could stand in a long, slow line to cash your TCs, but these branch banks have all been closed and replaced by ATMs. Some hotels and perhaps campgrounds might be willing to cash a TC, but you'll get an absolutely outrageously low rate of exchange, losing perhaps 10% or more of your money on the deal. Believe it or not, the best way to get French francs now is to use your own ATM card to withdraw money from your own bank account at home! If your bank card is Star or Cirrus enabled, you'll have no trouble. You can withdraw from most French ATMs up to $300 US (over 2,000 francs at today's rates) every 3 days, and, if you each have an account, that's $600 every 3 days. Beware, though. To use your ATM card in France you must have a 4-digit access-code pin that does not begin with a 0. The next best way is to get a cash advance on your Visa or Mastercard, again through an ATM machine, but you'll pay very high fees to do it this way. When I walk I carry about $100 in $20 bills for emergency small exchanges. Also $2-300 in TCs to tide me over in case I lose my cards or they are stolen. I always (so far) return home with these TCs. For the past 5 years I have relied solely on my ATM card and the ATM machines, not only in France, but in other European countries as well. back to top FRANCE'S REGIONAL PARKS ON-LINE - There are 37 regional parks on the French mainland (and another on Martinique). Walkers will find these areas, which the French have designated as an important part of their natural or cultural heritage, particularly attractive. There's information about the terrain, the GR walking trails, accommodations, history, etc. for each park, all of it useful for anyone planning a walk in any one of these areas. Check it out at www.parcs-naturels-regionaux.tm.fr/lesparcs/index_en.html. The site is in both English and French.– BLeF, 10 July '00 BALADES EN FRANCE, A FRENCH-LANGUAGE MAGAZINE ABOUT WALKING - Today I received my first copy of the French magazine, Balades en France, which is a relatively new (to me but this July-August issue is #34) French-language bi-monthly dedicated to news about walking the GR paths in France. It seems to have replaced the magazine Randonnée that went belly up about four or five years ago. All the feature articles in Balades, at least in the current issue, deal only with day walks and not with longer cross-country walks, but the information given for each area—the Auvergne, the Pyrenees, Burgundy and the Alps this time—would still be very useful for anyone planning a longer walk in one the areas covered.If you read French there’s a great deal here to like beside information about walks on specific GRs and GRPs: lots of attractive color pictures that give you a good idea of the terrain and scenery, names and addresses for lodging and a wealth of shorter columns on flowers, fauna, equipment, health, etc. The ads are also interesting, particularly for anyone wanting help planning a walk in France or for those wanting to join (for, in most cases, an extremely reasonable price) a French walking tour. The magazine just mounted a brand-new web site, www.balades-france.fr that repeats much of the information in current and past issues. And though my first impression of Balades is that it tends to shy away from things controversial or negative, there’s even an informative article about the storm damage to the GR, GRP and PR trails in the various regions archived from the May-June issue. (This article is summarized in English in the Specific News From & About the Paths (GRs) section.) Use the website to subscribe to Balades en France; it’s 259 FF or about $37.00 at today’s exchange rate for 1 year/6 issues sent airmail to the USA. – BLeF, 28 June '00 back to top THE TGV AND SPEAKING FRENCH - Being well traveled European visitors we had often dreamed of walking the GRs, and (France on Foot) was the stimulus. At 73 each, we walk slower and shorter and decided on easy terrain in the Vaucluse and the GRs 7 and 76 in Burgundy. The late April and May rural landscape was absolutely spectacular.TGV (the French high-speed train) direct from Charles de Gaulle (airport) was terrific.But warning, getting back to that airport on the TGV without negotiating Paris and staying there may be impossible. Another warning, back to back long weekends in early May fill up accommodations to the max in popular touristy areas. We found we were able to "communicate" 80% of the time on 40-year-old high-school French and a community college night course before we left. It was amazing how well nouns and verbs with no grammar was apparently accepted. The télécarte (phone card) was indispensable and its use a snap, except for the ANSWERING MACHINE. I learned to either hang up immediately or stammer some request with no confidence that it would be understood. See a great deal more about Bob & Liz's walk on all but the Questions & Queries page. – Bob & Liz, Corvallis, Oregon, 25 June ‘00 ABOUT TO TAKE AN INDEPENDENT WALK - I...wanted to thank you for writing your book.The past couple of years we have walked in the mountains of France and Switzerland with a tour group we like very much, Distant Journeys out of Camden, Maine www.distantjouneys.com. However, on our last trip I succumbed to competitive pressures to try to keep up with "rabbits" in our group, essentially abandoning Judy, which caused considerable domestic discord. In addition, we thought we were losing some flexibility in schedule and route, missing the fun of planning the trip, and, by associating only with Americans, missing out on contact with other people and chances to practice our French. We determined to try our next trip on our own.See the e-mail from M.R. in the Specific News From & About the Paths page, which details some of his experience on the GR 4.. – M.R., 2 May '00 back to top ONLINE LISTING OF TRAILS & LINKS - A Dutch site, www.hejoly.demon.nl/, has the most extensive listing of worldwide walking links I have ever run across. When you click on the insignificant (relatively speaking) subheading of "France" you are led to a huge database of useful links, which can take hours of your time to explore. Some of the information is in Dutch, while even a greater part is in French, but there is still much for the English-only walker. Despite its rather misleading name this is a true WALKER'S GEM on the internet!While looking for information about the storm damage in French forests I came upon a useful site for those walkers who are comfortable reading French, www.randonnee.net/. Lots of good links to regional and walking websites. – BLeF, 12 March '00, added to on 25 May '00 A LONG WALK - For the past 4 months I have been in off-and-on contact with Jeff from Los Angeles who will soon set off on a very ambitious 4 and 1/2 month walk on the GR 5 from the Netherlands to the Mediterranean Sea. His trip will start on 1 April on the North Sea and cross the southern end of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg from north to south and then continue down the Moselle to Nancy in France. From there he’ll cut east to the Vosges mountains and then walk south along the crest. Then along the French Jura before veering east to Nyon on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The last month and 1/2 will be spent walking the length of the French Alps from Chamonix to the Mediterranean. I told you he was ambitious!Posted on the Clothing & Equipment page is Jeff’s packing list, complete with brand names. In addition Jeff has agreed to send me occasional e-mails from the trail. They’ll be sporadic since cyber cafes are few and far between in the rural parts of Europe, but those he’s able to send should be interesting. I’ll post them on the Specific News From & About the Paths page as they come in. Stay tuned. Jeff communicated four times from the trail and has now arrived in Nice. After he settles down he promises to send more information about his four month trek. – BLeF, 29 Feb, 7 Sept. '00 FRENCH WALKER NEWSLETTER - While giving a talk and slide show at the Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble in New York City last July, I was fortunate to meet Richard Bock who, since 1989, has written and published a useful and delightfully literate news letter called The French Walker. This publication appears sporadically, seemingly whenever Mr Bock has returned from a walk in France, but each issue, crammed with both the practical and the impressionistic, is worth the wait. A subscription (4 issues over who-knows-what time period) costs $30. Many of the back issues are available for $9 each. Send your check toThe French Walker PO Box 177 Madison Square Station New York, NY 10150-0177 or phone 212 995-5869 – BLeF, Nov '99 e-mail your questions and comments to walk@franceonfoot.com back to top UPDATES MAIN PAGE * SPECIFIC NEWS FROM & ABOUT THE PATHS (GRs) |
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