Travels Without a Donkey
It’s been nearly two years since we finished LEJOG, undoubtedly the best trip I’ve ever done, made even better by the fantastic support of Sandra and Arthur.
2023 was a definite anticlimax on the adventure front, a kitchen extension and new roof took up all of February to June. I did manage to take the van to France for a couple of weeks, but that was mainly visiting Neolithic and Paleolithic sites, including the amazing painted caves at Lascaux and Peche-Merle.
Image of an auroch taken in Lascaux IV, the new visitor centre.
Unfortunately on the way back I injured my left knee, leaving me unable to walk more than a few hundred meters or up any incline without it seizing up. I could walk fine for a while then shooting pains would make me stop. A short rest would see the discomfort subside and I could continue. Other than the pain there was no other symptoms and I couldn’t think of anything that might have caused it, the last couple of days before it flared up had been gentle strolls around museums and driving to Calais.
It may have been the driving, originally I had been intending to take two or three days to get from Peche-Merle to Normandy however there are some very interesting Second World War sites near Calais, so to give myself time to see them I condensed three days driving into one very long day and half a morning.
I think it was the 500 mile drive that knackered my knee, sitting for hours on the motorway in the same position did it no favors.
But now, physiotherapy, a knee brace and lots of ibuprofen gel have worked wonders and it seems ok but it took a lot of time.
While I was enjoying the days and weeks between physio appointments I got to thinking about new adventures.
I wanted a walking adventure something to look forward to and plan; however, nothing could beat the LEJOG walk so it had to be something a bit different.
1) It had to be somewhere new.
2) It should have a good chance of warm and sunny weather in the spring/early summer.
3) If it was going to be a long distance walk it should be long enough to be challenging but not of LEJOG epic proportions.
4) Sandra and the hounds would come along as well and enjoy the adventure.
One walk met all four requirements, the Stevenson Trail, also known as the GR70.
This is one of France’s many long distance paths and follows a most interesting route with a romantic backstory.
In 1878 Robert Louis Stevenson (he of Treasure Island and Kidnapped fame), walked through the Massif Central and Cevennes. He was accompanied, by a small donkey, called Modestine, who carried his kit and provided a useful literary foil for his book.
In 1879 he published an account of his trip, ‘Travels with a Donkey’. This is probably the first walker’s travelogue ever written, it set Stevenson on his literary career and has been in print ever since.
I first read Travels with a Donkey well over 40 years ago, sitting on the train going into London to work and I thought to myself, someday I’m going to do that walk.
So with that memory my decision made, a nice long walk through one of the more remote areas of France. My original plan was to pack Sandra and the hounds into the van and head across France for a month or so. Unfortunately Sandra has other commitments and I had to rethink the plan.
Version two was to take the van to France and do the walk but it’s a linear walk of about 270km so that was out.
The final plan is to get the train there and back and backpack the walk, so that’s what I’m going to do.
The route of the GR70 runs south from Le Puy en Velay to Ales, through the Massif Central and Cévennes.
And it all starts on Thursday 2nd May, the alarm is set for 4:00 am for the 5:15 London express.
I’ll try and keep this blog up to date but I’ll be dependent on internet connections in a fairly remote and undeveloped area of rural France.
Wish me luck😀
