Walking in France – What to expect?

The French trail system is 110,000 miles long and is made up of three types of path: 1. Long national paths, called sentiers de grande randonnee or GRs for short. These are numbered—GR 3, GR 76, etc.—and are mapped on the one-sheet, 1:1,000,000 IGN map #903, France, Grande Randonnée. There are 38,000 miles of GR trails in France; they are laid out to connect one point with another. For example: the GR 5 runs from the Luxembourg border all the way down the Vosges, Jura and Alp mountains to the Mediterranean. GR trails are marked with white over red blazes...