In reply to SteGo:
Pyrenees.
We just got back from 8 days of walking in the eastern Pyrenees and foothills on the French side. Fly to Toulouse, train south to Foix or Merens les Vals, then up!
We only scratched the surface and will be going back. We did part of the Cathar Way (three days out from Foix to Montsegur, good if you like history), and then a day south to Ax on the GR107, but I much preferred the actual walking once we got up into the cooler Pyrenees themselves on the GR10. There are lots of well waymarked options, and more rustic character in the villages than in the Dolomites (which I also loved) where the impact of the ski industry is much more pronounced (from my limited experience of one visit).
We did parts of the GR107 , GR10 and the Carlit Route on the Carlit Massif. There are refuges, and you can wild camp. We camped at the refuges. Had I been alone, I would have spent the whole time on the Haute Route, but it's just as well I wasn't, perhaps, or I wouldn't have happened on Ax les-Thermes and had such a nice day there.
We didn't make up our minds as to what to do until the afternoon we spent in Toulouse on the way there, and in fact changed plans once we got Ax (because the bus to Tarascon only runs on Thursdays!)
Post edited at 14:53
