UKH

could someone recommend me a brilliant fell walking area in France, something like the yorkshire dales or north pennines? probably thankssomewhere in centre or south where i can walk for a week or two?

Last summer we spent a few days near Mint Dore in the Auvergne; lovely area.

https://www.sancy.com/destination/toutes-les-communes/le-mont-dore/mont-dor...

Mont Dore would be a good option, as would other parts of the monts du Cantal such as the Plomb du Cantal.  A little further south is the Cévennes which is also a great place for easy walking in what the French would call 'middle mountains' (there was a thread about this area not so long ago).  More east than centre or south but I like the Vosges & the Jura

Can one backpack in these areas, camping discretely a la Scotland (bit of French for you there...) or is it too regulated for such schemes?

Lake Annecy is a good base with several campsites. Quieter on the east side - Talloires, I think.  I did walking, Mr Grommet did Via Ferratas in the area.

I suspect you are underestimating the scale and remoteness of some of these areas,

Chris

In France I've only wild camped in the higher mountains (Alps & Pyrenees) but largely because my visits to places like the Cantal & Cévennes have been with my wife who doesn't like camping so its been day walks from cheap hotels, B&Bs etc. I'm sure with a little discretion you could camp once in the hills & away from villages & farms.

Here are the official regulations on bivies in the PNR (parc naturel régional): http://www.parcdesvolcans.fr/Nous/Nous-vous-accueillons/Visiter-le-Parc/Act...

In theory you can bivy with the agreement of the landowner... Problem is, in this part of France as in most (sadly), landowners are very often private individuals so it would be a bit of a hassle to ask every landowner whether you can camp in their field. Whatever you do, only pitch your tent between 8pm and 8am, no fires, no garbage and no camping on a slope or a volcanic summit.

Other than that it's a lovely area, very green and much quieter than other semi-mountainous or mountainous regions (unless you hike to the top of the Puy de Dôme). Very sparsely populated between Clermont-Ferrand and Aurillac. Lots of numbered and colour-coded day hikes (get the Chamina topos). There's also a couple of longer hikes (111 and 194km), the GR441 and GR30.

As others have said:  Cantal, the area around Mont Dore (Massif du Sancy).  I know a few possible spots for wild camping around Mont Dore and Super Besse - in my experience the Super Besse side of Sancy is a little quieter.

Also worth considering is the Vosges area in the NE.  Easily accessible from Strasbourg and some good hills to explore, huge forested areas and definite possibilities for wild-camping if discrete.

For this kind of thing, though, the quieter areas of the Pyrenees and its foothills would probably take some beating.  Around the Pic Midi d'Ossau and environs should give you plenty of possibilities.  Although it can get busy in summer in some areas, it is easy to escape the crowds.

Maybe. Is it genuinely territory where one can't backpack say 5- 7 days between resupplying, which one can happily do in Scotland?

Some lovely looking places