On these web pages you will find reports on my hiking with emphasis on France.
Why go to France for hiking? Simply because it's beautiful there :-)
If you go hiking in Germany, you will mostly find broad forest roads,
cheap overnight accommodation is rare, and bivouacing is forbidden.
French is richly endowed with a network of walking paths called "GR"
(Grande Randonnée). There are three kinds of
overnight accommodation: refuge, shelters (abris) and
gîtes d'étape. The latter, which sport
shared rooms and domitories, are operated either privately or by the
municipality.
My favourite hiking trail is the GR5, which is part of a long Europeean
route (E2). The GR5 crosses Europe: It leads from the North Sea to the
Mediterranean Coast. It crosses the Ardennes, leads across Luxembourg,
throught the Vosges, Jura and the French Alps. The last and best known
bit in the south, La grande Traversée des Alpes,
spans over 660km (400miles), and features passes between 2000m and 2800m ASL.
Most of my descriptions are about trips to the Vosges ( GR5 / GR53 / GR531 / GR532 / GR533). To me, their special charme consists of the wild mountain ranges, which are sometimes interrupted by pastures and viewpoints. The Jura ( GR5 / GR9 / GR BL) is moderately hilly in the center and has a steep slope in the south. On sunny days, you will have a great view on the alps.
The Massiv Centrale ( GR65 / GR651 / GR4 / GR400) is one of the most quiet and isolated mountain ranges in France. Besides the bald volcanic mountain tops, steep ravines with torrents (Garonne, Dordogne, Tarn, Lot, Ardèche, Aveyron, Allier und Célé) at their bottoms invite to kayak.
The English site is still under construction, so not all of the descriptions are yet available in English. Coming sooner or later;-)