Thank you, I will make sure to look out for those places. We may try and squeeze in one small summit, as I said we're going to play it largely by ear - nothing too daunting, but if we bivouac from one location we might try some day hikes up to higher elevations. Funny you mention the waist belt issue, I have been thinking a lot about that. I'm going to use an idea that British Red posted for me here, going to use extra long "tactie" belt loops on my pouches so they dangle far enough to be out of the way of the backpack.
If you are traveling via Paris then all of your map needs will be met by visiting 'Au View Campeur', 2 Rue de Latran in the 'latin quarter'.
This is a camping store spread over some twenty or so shops all within a few blocks of each other, each shop specializes in a specific area, the map shop can be found near the bottom of this page.
The other shops are well worth a browse, just leave your credit card at the hotel.
Sounds fantastic man, shame though at the moment we're planning to get a plane direct to Biarritz so will probably miss it. I'm going to continue searching around the net for mail order maps though.
Thank you for your advice born2roam, I will think about that. You're right I do have a lot of fire redundancy, I just dread those times when it's wet and windy and all you want is a good fire but nothing you have is working.. We've all been there. As you said, one thing I found hard to incorporate was shelter, apart from the space blanket that is pretty much absent because most shelter items are bulky and too large for a belt kit that I want to always be able to carry.
Also, as you said I will be testing out my belt kit on a few hikes here before we go.
