Beach at Hendaye, start of the GR10 A grande randonnée is French for a long hike. France has about 60,000km of marked and documented long distance hiking trails each identified with a number. In 2011 we walked the GR5 through the Alps from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean. This year I’m walking about half of … more
July 22. A good first day. Mostly sunny, no rain, not too hard (although I am quite tired) and some good views. In places the trail wanders back and forth across the Spanish border; the little town where I had lunch, just on the French side of the border, seemed be as much Spanish as … more
June 23. A fairly easy day although it was hot and I took it slowly. The major climb of the day, 500m to the Col des Trois Fontaines, was done in the first hour and 20 minutes. The weather was overcast with some mist at the col, not very hot, but very humid. I was … more
A more interesting day with more time in the hills. Got to 716m elevation at the Col de Méhatché, the highest so far. Once again the route goes almost back to sea level for the night. The day began cloudy and humid and remained that way until late afternoon when the sun finally broke through. … more
My English guidebook describes this stage as “the first really hard day, best done in fine weather.” Mother Nature had a different idea: rain, mist, thunder in the mountains. I decided to walk the roads in the valley with some French hikers I met yesterday. It was a boring wet walk. Now, in the afternoon, … more