Thirty one million French people participate in this sporting activity; five million of them regularly. And, the more life becomes mechanised, organised, constrained, the more it grows. It is (surprisingly?), rambling or hiking. In the last ten years the number has jumped threefold, so that it can be called the main sporting activity of the French. This we learn from an article in the newspaper Figaro, with help from a Strasbourg professor, who is an historian and a sociologist. He stresses that, rambling, walking, hiking, call it what you will, is more than a sport it is a liberating experience.
Yes, it helps sociability when you go in groups, thus with family or friends or colleagues, but at the same time you are on your own. As you grow tired, you withdraw into yourself you meditate. The group stays together but each member lives in his own or her own thoughts, That, he believes, is also a big attraction. But, says the professor, Andre Rauch, the rain or the burning sun, or the steepness or difficulty of the route, the desire to give up, is a challenge which is good to overcome.
Not all of the thirty one million mentioned as walkers go through this. Many are merely those who take a short Sunday walk in their own environs. But throughout France there are at least 180,000 kilometres of recognised, sign-marked paths, some of a difficult nature. The highest marked path in France, says the paper, runs from Lac Leman, near Geneva via Annecy, in the Haute Savoiet mountains to Grenoble, along the Massif of Vercors, scene of great Resistance activity in the second World War, down by Mont Ventoux, known by those who follow the Tour de France race, past Aix-en-Provence and into St Tropez. There is a lovely high walk along the valley of the Tet river in the eastern foothills of the Pyrenees.
The figures for the equipment bought by French people for their outings is staggering. Annually, 700,000 pairs of boots. No longer the leather lace- ups, but now what the French call les baskets (from basketball) or trainers of many kinds. Then 900,000 rucksacks; 300,000 sleeping bags. Who goes on these outings? It is reckoned that 45 per cent of them are aged 40 to 50; 20 per cent are 30 to 35, Others, covering from very young to quite old account for 35 per cent. If you're fit enough, try the routes on the Pyrenees. You can usually park the car somewhere, in case of need.