I haven't done any myself but have picked up a guidebook titled "All the via ferrata in France". It's in French but everything is done with topos and symbols so you shouldn't need to be able to speak the lingo. There's about 125 all up, including Andorra, Corsica etc. The French ones _look_ very well equipped and many routes are apparently are very new.
You can buy basic climbing gear, including shock absorbing lanyards for via ferrata, at any outdoor store or even large "Rebel-sports" type store. |