@Richo, I walked a combo of the PWC (London to Canterbury) & the VF (Canterbury to Rome) in 2019. I'm not a purist & very much enjoyed making my own way across France.
Unlike
@roving_rufus, my relationship with my Alison Raju (RIP) Cicerone guides was less amiable due to her penchant of muddling up left & right (from memory
,
@Bradypus ?? disagrees with me on this point
). I actually deliberately challenged myself to find a better (subjective of course!
) route than the official or Cicerone suggested.
Large swathes of the path through France are huge agricultural areas criss-crossed with farm tracks accessible to the public. I had the Cicerone guides & paper maps to plot a general course (ie start & end point for the day), but then used Google maps 'on the ground' to navigate to that days destination, very often using these farm tracks. I only recall 3 occasions through the entire VF I was lead astray by Google maps requiring a little backtracking or some adhoc 'geographical realignment'
to correct.
I did not use any kind of online guide, app or GPS. I never once through France, or the rest of the VF, felt I was lost.
My chosen path through France was also very much dictated by accommodation availability.
So, to answer your specific concern, I suggest you contemplate the following;
i/ what is your tolerance for going 'off piste'? Are you a stickler for the official path?
ii/ do you need the reassurance of sign posting or way marking? Although I felt I made my own way across the large scale agricultural parts of France, I was amazed how often I encountered signage of the actual path
iii/ what is your accommodation preference? ie pilgrim type, hostels, private accom, etc
These questions will help you decide how to tackle France. IMHO, the more relaxed you are about your specific path for that day, the more you will enjoy it. If you spend your time anxious about straying from the official route (& lets remember here, that no-one knows exactly the route Sigeric took, just his nightly stops), it could negatively impact your outlook & overall experience. As long as you reach your intended nightly stop, does it really matter which route you took to get there?
The VF will never rank as my favourite long distance walk but I did really enjoy the challenge of navigating across France (I too utilized the canal paths when it suited). I actually felt constrained once crossing into Switzerland & then Italy as the path was so clearly waymarked/signposted & there were less alternatives to choose from.
Happy trails, temporarily geographically embarrassed or not!
Overall, don't stress..you'll get there. As always, any advice from
@timr is sound.