On 4 March 2021, the French Ministry of Culture invited the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (ICCE) to participate in a meeting chaired by the director of the UNESCO Culture and World Heritage department, Bruno Favel, and the head of the Culture and Tourism department, Nicolas Monquaut.

The goal of the meeting was to define the development strategies for the Council of Europe’s cultural routes through France. France is one of the countries with the largest number of certified routes, which represents an important resource for the development and attractiveness of the territories.

The EAVF was represented at this meeting by its vice-president, Martine Gautheron, and the person in charge of the development of the Via Francigena in France and Switzerland, Jacques Chevin.

The meeting was a good opportunity to point out the main crossings of the Via Francigena with other cultural routes such as the cities of Reims, Arras, Besançon, which are crossed by the Via Francigena, the Via d’Artagnan, and the Via Charlemagne.