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 , cycling 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. The high Alps are home to two of
France's best-known national parks, le Mercantour and les Ecrins.
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 (photo) that have been
reintroduced in the Alps and southern Massif Central (Tarn gorge area).
There are now close to 1000 of these huge birds of prey in central
southern France, and they have been spotted away as far as the Haut
Allier area in Auvergne.
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 distinction is largely an
administrative technicality, akin to the difference between "state
parks" and "national parks" in the USA.
The map on
the left shows the location of the main regional parks (green) and
national parks (purple). The former 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.
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