That's not true. You can bivouac (== 1 night stay) anywhere in France where it's not explicitly forbidden (e.g cities/towns/national parks etc). I did a small part of it last year and slept in a tent 5 out 6 nights.
Yes, according to the creator, 70% of the trail has bivouacs as a possibility. So ⅔ of the trail. With 1 town every 3 days of hiking, it should be totally workable (though perhaps expensive to stay in towns a lot).
carabiner|2 years ago