France

The Massif Central is a highland in south-central France and historically the region, the Auverne, was a barrier. It was formed by ancient volcanic activity over many ages and was raised by the Alpine and Pyrenean uplifts. The rock is granite and metamorphic and the region contain hundreds of extinct volcanos or Puys. I was unfamiliar with the region and had never considered visiting it until recently, perhaps because it wasn't high or spiky enough in my youth or too agricultural. But the more I read about it the more interesting it seemed. It is a great cheese producing area where they still practice transhumance, taking the cattle up to the high pastures in late spring. Unlike some of my previous multi-day trips, I stayed in relative luxury in gîte's and hotels. I was also much less purist, accepting lifts from various hosts and hitching hiking a couple of times when I was tired or the next bit looked tedious. I met lot of interesting people who introduced me to the country ways of the region, which in some ways is similar to the Peak District, although bigger and less popular with day trippers. I started in Saint Flour and went north following the GR4, one of the ancient pilgrimage trails from northern France to Santiago de Compostela. The interest for me was in the long ridges linking chains of Puys, or volcanic hills. In some ways it is similar to the Peak District, although bigger and less popular with day trippers. But this is not an area for those wanting the high adventure of the Alps or Pyrenees. The walking is relatively moderate and there are no steep ascents or scrambling. Nevertheless it's always rewarding to visit France.