We're thinking of going to the Massif Central area in September and wondered if anyone had any suggestions.
We'd like to spend around a week based in one place doing day walks or perhaps a 3-4 day circular and then move on somewhere else, doing something similar. We'll do a mix of campsite, wild camping and cheap hotel accommodation and will use public transport (£85 return London- Clermont Ferrand on raileurope.co.uk).
Last year we did sections of the GR10 and HRP so are happy to do fairly serious walking and navigation.
The extinct volcanoes near Clermont Ferrand look good and I've heard that Cantal can be nice.
Have you thought of the Cevennes? I spent some time walking there last year. It is very beautiful, very friendly (I had to hitch-hike a bit to get to and from and rarely waited more than two or three cars to get a lift) and has a fair number of gites d'etapes.
I was following the transhumance route of shepherds who still drive their sheep, day after day, from the Plaine de la Crau in Provence up to good summer pasture.
Inspired, I must confess, by that fine piece of feminist writing by the "Biggles" author, "Worrals on the Warpath". http://preview.tinyurl.com/acogkw
See some pics of my wandering as I followed Worrals's route in reverse on http://preview.tinyurl.com/ct5f2j
Luckily I met some of the shepherds I was looking for, and hope to go back and help them this year.
It is very wild. I saw few people from morning to night. I was sleeping out there (in an olive hooped bivvy) when necessary last year, but mainly staying in gites d'etapes, since they're so cheap and they feed you really, really, really well (better, in fact, than most restaurants).
I havn't slept in a recognized camping site since I was a child, but I've slept out (or 'wild camped' as it's known here) in every country from Donegal to Afghanistan (in a line) since then.
I always try to make sure I'm hard to spot, and have never had any trouble.
The last difficu.lt incident was when i was about sixteen, and sleeping out in the (private) park in Merrion Square in Dublin over the christmas holidays with a mate. I realized that the park keeper had spotted us . We both pretended to be asleep as we heard him approach on his bike, and then slowly pedal away. When we finally got up and brushed the frost off our sleeping bags we found that he'd left two slices of christmas cake.
Hoping to stay in the Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne (probably in or around Le Mont Dore or La Bourbole but haven't booked anything as of today ) and get some decent walks in.
Looks like a great region with lots to do but the weather forecast isn't great - will report back.
We walked the GR4 from le Mont Dore to St Flour last August (7 or 8 days) and can recommend it.
The route takes you over Puy de Sancy, across some wonderful countryside, over the remote Plateau de Limon (takes lots of water this stage- very dry and don't trust the Cicerone guide -its 20 years old and some of the facilities (hotels, snack bars) have closed. We were glad we had taken a tent in case. And then across the Monts du Cantal and Plomb du Cantal and out to approaching the Cevennes.
We took a train to Le Mont Dore and after the walk flew back from Lyon after staying a night at Le Puy en Verlay.
If you go, stay at the Hotel du Centre in Valuejols for a small provincial french hotel which has remained unchanged for 50 years at least. madam cooks a super set meal in the evening.
We saw very few other walkers but did see two monks in full habit leading a group of boys !!over the Monts du Cantal at the Breche de Rolande. We also came across a man in a van whose job it was to refresh the red and white markers for the GR. Shame he hadn't ventured over the most remote part of the Plateau de Limon as that part was not so well waymarked.
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) and get some decent walks in. 
