On our way to Monastier sur Gazeille we encounter some cows
This summer, we decide to do something active. We plan on walking (part of) the Stevenson’s Route.
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850 –1894) was a Scottish novelist and travel writer, better known for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide. Not being able to marry the love of his life (the lady in question was already married), his doctor advised to go on a walk. 
Monastier sur Gazeille, in the direction of our hike.
He made a 12-day walking trip of some 220 kilometer through four very different regions. Velay, Gévaudan, Mont Lozère and the Cévennes; from the Auvergne to the mountains of the Cevennes with a donkey named Modestine. That trek inspired one of his earliest novels, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879). 
The church in Monastier sur Gazeille, from which he started his walk.
The path he walked is now called the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, The Chemin Stevenson. It is a GR, or Grande Randonnee , a network of long-distance footpaths in Europe. The GR 70 is part of the GR 700. The book was much loved by the likes of John Steinbeck, and now considered a classic of outdoor literature. John Steinbeck wrote his own, called Travels with Charley (his dog).
Pa, Reinoud, Sietske, Hana, Adrian and Jacob
We go with Jacob, Reinoud, Adrian, Hana and Sietske, while opa will join us for parts of the way (he says). The route starts from Le Monastier sur Gazeille, where we will pick up our donkeys. We sleep at a hotel and visit the church where he started his hike.
We drive to Le Monastier sur Gazeille to pick up our 3 donkeys the next morning from Gilles .
