Preparation - Navigation

The GRs in France - and perhaps especially the GR65 - are extremely well signposted:

The GR65 has all sorts of other (fun) signs.

Each region/department may have its own style for distances to towns, but they are more an indication than accurate.

Still, I like to have topographical maps, and though I do prefer the paper variety, the number of different ones required to cover the various regions traversed at useful scale make them cots- and weight-prohibitive. A small tablet (300g) loaded with electronic topo maps is a lot lighter and more versatile than many maps. Far cheaper too, if you exclude the cost of the tablet itself. The main downside is battery recharging, which shouldn't be an issue unless you're camping.

I used Openrunner to create the gpx route (tracing the GR), giving me distance, elevation profile, and the ability to export the gpx route file. I used the IGN topo layer.

I loaded the gpx files into the Viewranger app on my tablet, and got a one year subscription to IGN maps (~30$, again, far cheaper than many maps). Viewranger recorded the track using my tablet's GPS to create the .gpx track files.

You can see where we walked by downloading the entire gpx track.  (or in .kmz format)

Note the following track gaps:

1. GPS issues: between Massip and Espeyrac (not on), and between Gramat and Rocamadour (bad signal)
2. Not walking: we took the bus from Limogne-en-Quercy and Villefranche-de-Rouergue, and the train between the Najac train station, and the train station 6 km outside of Cordes-sur-Ciel.