Just wanted to write to have a bit of a grumble and warn others about the "Walking in France" guidebook's representation of its Chemin de St-Jacques Highlight walk.
My wife and I found the walk a particular disappointment because, during the actual walking, there was next to nothing in terms of significant natural beauty or cultural interest which merited the effort and expense (particularly in terms of opportunity cost, given we'd travelled from Australia for a short holiday). Yes, the forests, farming land and odd hamlet through which the walk passed did have some pleasing moments, but certainly nothing to warrant six days and 160kms! Yes, the walk passes through significant historical towns, but these are reached at the end of (a usually long) day, not during the day.
Our suggestion is that unless you have a religious interest in doing this walk, simply like walking long distances for its own sake, or live nearby and want something to do on the weekend, then walk somewhere else. If you particularly want to see the towns along the walk then hire a car.
I've done a fair bit of walking and mountaineering both in France and elsewhere and really wonder how the authors came to include this walk in the guide, let alone as one of their two highlight walks in France. Further, it's hard to believe it's just a matter of taste - my taste almost invariably matches the authors' tastes for the other walks I've done out of this France guidebook. Further, during the walk we also discovered that there had been alternative routes which we could have taken, had we known, that did go through beautiful countryside and towns (during the day). How did the authors miss such an obvious possibility for making the walk interesting to their readership - people who want to walk in beautiful and interesting places?
In the end, we did something we've never done before. We pulled out of a walk (at the end of day 4). France has much better walks and places to be than this.
