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Unspoilt natural environments
in France
With about the same population as the United Kingdom, but twice the
surface area, France
is a big country; and it is a country where the
countryside is big. On the other hand, as an old country, where humans
have worked the land for over two thousand years, it is a country where
much of the "natural" environment has been shaped - for better or worse
- by the hand of man. There is little in the way of genuine "wilderness
area" in France, such as one can find in the USA or Canada; but that is
not
to say that there is no such thing as "wild France". There are plenty
of parts of this large country which remain, to this day, relatively
wild and untamed, and a destination worth seeking out by nature lovers,
ramblers and adepts of the "great outdoors".
For anyone wishing to escape from city life and
find rural peace and quite, almost any part of
rural France will fit
the bill; but there are areas of France that are more deeply rural, and
less populated than others. In particular, there is a large swathe of
France, running from the Belgian border in the north east, to the
Pyrenees in the south west, that is unofficially known as la diagonale
du vide (the diagonal of emptiness), which contains many
of the least
populated areas of France (other than high mountain areas), plenty of
wide open spaces, and ample opportunity for hiking,
rambling and
outdoor activities. This diagonal can be seen on the map opposite.
North-east
France
In the northeast, the area includes the Ardennes
hills, with their forests, and the open spaces of the Champagne and
Lorraine
regions, rolling farming country that has seen
considerable rural depopulation over the last hundred years. In the
northern part of Burgundy,
between Paris and Dijon, lie the Morvan
hills, quite forested in parts, and peaking at over 2,000 ft. The
Morvan is a popular area with weekend hikers, on account of its easy
access from Paris.
Central
southern France
 The
southern-central bulge in the "diagonal" is
the area of the Massif
Central mountains, which include some of the
emptiest parts of France. The Massif Central includes most of the
regions of Auvergne
and Limousin,
as well as the north of the Midi-Pyrénées
region, and the north of the Languedoc
region, and the west of the Rhone-Alpes
region. Many
long-distance hiking paths cross these hills, passing through some
pretty wild and desolate areas, such as the barren limestone Causses in
the south (in the departments of Lozère
and Aveyron),
the
granite Aubrac
in the middle (Aveyron and Cantal
departments), and the
Chaîne des Puys ( volcanic uplands running through the Puy-de-Dome, Cantal,
Haute-Loire
and Ardèche
departments: see photo).
This is the part of France for lovers of wild wide open spaces. A very
sparsely populated area is crossed by the A 75 Clermont-Ferrand to
Montpellier
motorway, which runs for over 100 miles at an average altitude of over
800 metres, with three peaks at over 1100m (about 3,500 ft).
South of
Toulouse
South of Toulouse, the rolling countryside of Gascony slowly rises
up to meet the foothills of the Pyrenees,
then the
high Pyrenees themselves. The Pyrenean foothills are wooded with steep
valleys, and offer plenty of opportunities for rambling and hiking. The
high Pyrenees, which culminate at over 3,000 metres, offer classic
high-mountain terrain, and plenty of tracks, including some recommended
only for experienced mountaineers.
Alps and
Jura
To the east of the Rhone valley (a line running
from
Lyon to Marseilles), lies the other great natural area of France, the French Alps and
their foothills (the Vercors,
the Bugey).
This zone offers plenty of very attractive mountain scenery, ranging
from the dry terrain of the Verdon area of Provence,
to the eternal
snows of Mont Blanc. Many areas of the Alps have been heavily developed
for winter sports, but away from the ski resorts,there are
many
hundreds of square kilometres of untamed hill and mountain,
well equipped with marked hiking trails, linking valley to valley, or
village to village.
North of the Alps, running up the
northern side of the border with Switzerland, the Jura mountains in
the Franche Comté
region offer another large mountainous area. The high Jura is
characterised by spruce forests and meadows, as well as lakes and
streams and plenty of hiking facilities.
Wildlife:
The sparsely populated areas of France are rich in wildlife, but
paradoxically it is often less visible than in suburban areas of
Britain, since wildlife in wild France tends to be wary of humans. In
the lower lying areas, wild boar, foxes, deer, rabbits and hares can
often be seen by patient observers; in the higher areas, notably though
not only in the Alps, there may also be marmots, chamois and mountain
goats (bouquetins), and even lynx. Wolves have been reintroduced in the
high Alps, and it is said that some have now managed to cross to the
east of the Rhone, and have been seen in the Massif Central. There are
a few bears in the Pyrenees, but they are very rarely seen.
Most of wild France is rich in birds of
prey,
notably buzzards and kites; but generally speaking France's
sparsely-inhabited upland areas are home to many more raptors,
including several different types of eagle, and massive griffon
vultures that have been reintroduced in the Alps and southern Massif
Central (Tarn gorge area).
This is only a very rough guide to the
wildlife of wild France, which is remarkably rich and diverse.
Protected
Areas, national parks, regional natural parks
The areas described above include most of France's
(few) national parks (in the high Alps, the Cévennes and the
Pyrenees), plus a large number of "Parcs naturels régionaux"
(a
phrase which is often mistranslated into English as "national parks").
There is no fundamental reason why some areas should be designated
national parks, and others regional natural parks.
The map on the left shows the location of the
main
natural parks (green) and national parks (purple). These include the
parks of Lorraine, the Morvan, the Chaîne
des Puys, the Forez-Livradois, Millevaches en Limousin, Monts
d'Ardèche, Grandes Causses, Luberon, Vercors, Haut-Jura, and
others. Many areas not included officially in "parks" are protected
areas under the EU Natura 2000 natural heritage programme.
Click here for information and a map of
France's long-distance footpaths
Click here for information on camping in France
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