For walkers, the French Pyrenees offer rich and almost inexhaustible possibilities, from half-hour strolls along beaches to strenuous challenge walks over high mountains hundreds of kilometres long and needing months to complete.

Nearly everywhere, there are well waymarked paths traced out by local members of the Fédération Francaise de la Randonée Pédestre (FFRP – the French Ramblers Association), a major source of excellent information on walking in the region. As a main artery along the whole range, there is one of the classic walks of Europe, the GR10 (sentier de grande randonée or long-distance footpath), a route wholly in France of some 700 km from Hendaye on the Atlantic coast via the high mountain scenery of the centre to Banyuls on the Mediterranean coast. Other GRs branch off from this route to make delectable circular walking tours of one to seven days or more. Others cross it, the most famous being the GR65 which follows the old medieval pilgrim route from France to Santiago de Compostela, crossing the frontier into Spain near St-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

Most of the paths are graded and waymarked in colour codes used nationally by the FFRP: GRs with white and red bars; GR de pays (circular tour paths of one day or more) with yellow and red bars; and PRs (shorter local paths) with yellow bars (although other colours are used in some areas).

Many of these routes are described in fine detail and with route maps in the highly informative Topoguides published in French by the FFRP (some now translated into English too) and available everywhere in the region. With these and the information which is available in local tourist offices, no walkers should be at a loss in finding walks to suit their capabilities and needs. In fact, they are much more likely to be spoilt for choice. Each of the four départements that cover the Pyrenees has its special attractions.

In the west, the Pyrénées Atlantiques offers pleasant walking along the coast and inland but its higher mountain country, the valleys of the Aspe and Ossau, with useful bases at Lescun and Laruns in particular, are recommended.

The Hautes Pyrénées département, as its name implies, contains the highest mountains of the whole range (Pic Long, 3,192 m is the highest peak wholly in the French Pyrenees). This region also boasts most of the Pyrenees National Park, containing some of the finest mountain scenery, flora and fauna, and the most challenging walking of all. The famous Cirque de Gavarnie and the dramatic Brèche de Roland are here, to be visited once by walkers and then left to less adventurous tourists while true mountain lovers head for better walking centres such as Pont d’Espagne or Luz Saint-Sauveur (see page 78).

Further east is Ariège, the départment where, on the Spanish/Andorran borders, some of the remotest mountain walking in the whole range is for experienced walkers only. It does however contain areas further north that will suit the less experienced: fine river valleys and limestone landscapes with walking of all grades everywhere. The Cathars (see page 298) had strongholds here and the Sentier des Cathares, brilliantly described in a Topoguide, will fascinate any walker interested in history.

The Pyrénées Orientales is a very special départment: this is Catalan country and for walkers has perhaps the most varied scenery of all. Two adjoining areas called the Cerdagne and Capcir, with excellent walking bases at Font Romeu and at Mont Louis, deserve special mention. Splendid flower-filled valleys, especially the Vallée d’Eyne, a paradise for botanist-walkers, and the Gorges du Sègre, offer easy walking. For a real challenge, Pic Carlit (2,927 m) is a truly great mountain walk. Accessible too is the better known Mont Canigou (2,784 m), last of the high mountains before the Mediterranean is reached.

All in all, the French Pyrenees offer a feast for walkers, and those who once taste it will find their appetites whetted for more, again and again.

Useful addresses and other information

For general information: Fédération Francaise de la Randonée Pédestre (FFRP), www.ffrandonee.fr.

In each département, the local FFRP members work in conjunction with local authorities through a Comité Départemental de la Randonée Pédestre. Contact with them will open up for walkers a great deal of specialized information, possibly even outings with French ramblers.

The Comités in the Pyrenees are based in Pau, Tarbes, Laroque d’Olmes and Perpignan. Tourist information centres should be able to supply their addresses.

Another comprehensive information service for walkers is Randonées Pyrénéennes, www.pyrandonees. fr.

Maps Most useful are the 1:25 000 IGN Cartes Top-bleu for specific areas and walking from centres.

For long-distance routes, the 1:50 000 maps published by Randonées Pyrénéennes are more practical.

Accommodation for walkers

In addition to the usual hotels and auberges of all categories, walkers will be interested in the gîtes ruraux (furnished rooms in farmhouses, vicarages and so on); gîtes d’étap (staging posts for longer walks); chambres d’hôte (bed-and-breakfast) and higher up the mountains, refuges (mountain huts steadily increasing in numbers and more and more offering meals during the summer months).