France has everything the walker could want, in abundance. The country has a staggering 110,000 miles of trail, split into three divisions: the GRs (Trans-European paths) GRPs (Regional Paths) and Prs (Local Paths). What is of immediate surprise to a visitor is just how big the country is, and how rurally empty most of it appears. Geographically, it’s easy to see why France is such a lure to the outdoor lover; in the north and west, the bleak coastal plains are a low-level walker’s delight. In the middle is the astonishing volcanic region of the Auvergne. In the South-West the French Pyrenees wall the border with Spain and Andorra, and fall to earth via the delightful and historically rich Midi-Pyrenees region. Then we have the east – which is where mountaineers prick up their ears – with the Jura and the Alps, one of the world’s greatest mountain ranges and home to Western Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, amongst a great many others. Starting high then the natural base for excursions into the high Alps is the town of Chamonix – Graceland for every living thing that ever wore skis or spikes. There’s a lot more to do here than just mountaineer, though: Chamonix offers visitors of every ability or desire something to do, from strolls through high Alpine pasture to ice climbing. If you want to tackle the big White Mountain (as Mont Blanc translates), the most straightforward route is the ever-popular Gouter route, which involves a cable car ride, a dawn traverse of the notoriously unstable Grand Colouir up into a realm of narrow snow slopes, fierce cold, steep drops and changeable weather. Despite its accessibility, Mont Blanc is the antithesis of a pushover – it is statistically the world’s most dangerous mountain, and you need to be hot to trot with Alpine skills, be well acclimatised and prepared to turn back if you lose the good weather.

Naturally, the views from the top are staggering, but are perhaps outweighed by the views from the valley, which is surrounded by a cauldron of speared peaks which rival anywhere in the world for spectacle. If gentler fare is more your thing, literally take a step down, checking out the towns in the hills to the west of the high Alps – a range of mountains cannily called the Préalpes – such as Castellane, Moustiers Sainte Marie and Greoux, where superlative hill-walking can be found. Hereabouts, in the extreme south-east, dramatic features such as the Verdon Gorge can be explored amongst surroundings of jaw-dropping beauty and intoxicating culture. If you want something unexpected, you can explore the volcanic region of the Auvergne lies within the Massif Central, a landscape of ghostly volcanoes covered in verdantly spreading vegetation – an image familiar from the Volvic bottle, named for the town of the same name in this region. The best walking lies within the Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne, a regional national park. These regional parks are not to be confused with the seven Parcs Nationaux, which generally are governed by stiffer restrictions than those in Britain; visit the website shown in ‘links’ for more info. Any level of walking can be found here, as can in most regions of France, from walks along the Rhone to the windswept coastlines of Brittany and Normandy. These are just the highlights of an outstandingly varied country.