This blog is in progress
Friday
July 24, 2009
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 .
Thursday
July 25, 2009
Day 1: Le Monastier to Goudet (9.5 kms, with 190 m altitude gain & 325 m descent)
Route: Le Monastier - Gourmaces - Le Cros - Saint Martines de Fugeres - Goudet .
We meet Gilles, the one who rents us the donkeys, at the village square in front of the church, and we receive our donkeys, are instructed on how to treat them in about 45 minutes and then the guy is gone. We’re on our own with 3 donkeys; Lisette, Balthazar and Filou.
We meet Gilles, the one who rents us the donkeys, at the village square in front of the church, and we receive our donkeys, are instructed on how to treat them in about 45 minutes and then the guy is gone. We’re on our own with 3 donkeys; Lisette, Balthazar and Filou. Reinoud and Balthazar
The character of Modestine, a stubborn, manipulative donkey Stevenson could never quite get the better of, is memorable. It is one of the earliest accounts which presented hiking and camping outdoors as a recreational activity. While talking with people about our hike, we hear several stories of uncooperative donkeys, and how the best donkeys are the ones in the donkey sausage. We’ll see. 
The first day we walk through forests and fields and villages to Goudet, a village in a valley on the way where we stay at Le Pipet. Stevenson got lost around Goudet because he was looking for a lake, but the Lac du Bouchet is uphill of the hamlet within a flooded volcano cone.
The first day we walk through forests and fields and villages to Goudet, a village in a valley on the way where we stay at Le Pipet. Stevenson got lost around Goudet because he was looking for a lake, but the Lac du Bouchet is uphill of the hamlet within a flooded volcano cone.Hana and Lisette
We walk through a region of mainly basalt rock, and along the volcanic plateaus of the Velay, following GR70. The trails are blazed with characteristic marks consisting of a white stripe above a red stripe. These appear regularly along the route, especially at places like forks or crossroads. Some of these transhumance routes are taken annually by shepherds and their flocks. 
We do not see any, though. Rarely do we walk on tarmac; now and then we have to cross a ‘real’ road. People find us so ‘pictoresque’ that they make pictures of us as we pass by.
The donkeys are not that hard to handle, but just don’t walk very fast, and stop every 5 meters to eat grass. We walk past farms, fields of wheat and corn, cows and little hamlets. The walking is easy. Reinoud, a notary (of some sort), has a vast collection of “What is green and rolls down the hill’ jokes.
A Dutch hiker, who walked the same route, wrote his about it (in Dutch of course)
‘De weg voorbij de St. Jeankapel voert het rivierdal van de Gazeille in. Gure windvlagen willen ons terugsturen naar het dorp. Maar we steken de stroom over en beginnen aan een pittige klim door het bos. Achter de dennebomen ligt een panorama van golvende weidevelden, goudgele akkers en rode daken.
Het is anderhalf uur lopen naar St. Martin-de-Fugères. Een kerk, een café en een bakkerswinkel. Aan de gevel van de Mairie wappert de Franse driekleur. Bij het monument voor oorlogsslachtoffers spelen kinderen. We volgen een door braamstruiken omzoomd pad en kijken regelrecht in het Loiredal, een wieg van rotsen, weilanden en bomen. De ruïnes van Château de Beaufort vormen sombere wachters voor de poorten van Goudet. Als de avond valt liggen wij weggedoken onder het tentdoek en luisteren naar het onweer boven de Loire.
We do not see any, though. Rarely do we walk on tarmac; now and then we have to cross a ‘real’ road. People find us so ‘pictoresque’ that they make pictures of us as we pass by.The donkeys are not that hard to handle, but just don’t walk very fast, and stop every 5 meters to eat grass. We walk past farms, fields of wheat and corn, cows and little hamlets. The walking is easy. Reinoud, a notary (of some sort), has a vast collection of “What is green and rolls down the hill’ jokes.A Dutch hiker, who walked the same route, wrote his about it (in Dutch of course)‘De weg voorbij de St. Jeankapel voert het rivierdal van de Gazeille in. Gure windvlagen willen ons terugsturen naar het dorp. Maar we steken de stroom over en beginnen aan een pittige klim door het bos. Achter de dennebomen ligt een panorama van golvende weidevelden, goudgele akkers en rode daken.
Het is anderhalf uur lopen naar St. Martin-de-Fugères. Een kerk, een café en een bakkerswinkel. Aan de gevel van de Mairie wappert de Franse driekleur. Bij het monument voor oorlogsslachtoffers spelen kinderen. We volgen een door braamstruiken omzoomd pad en kijken regelrecht in het Loiredal, een wieg van rotsen, weilanden en bomen. De ruïnes van Château de Beaufort vormen sombere wachters voor de poorten van Goudet. Als de avond valt liggen wij weggedoken onder het tentdoek en luisteren naar het onweer boven de Loire.
Wednesday
July 26, 2009
Day 2: Goudet to Landos (23 kms, 400 m altitude gain, 100 m descent)
We leave Goudet, and opa decides to quit. He takes a cab back to Monastier where he will pick up his car and drive back to Bastide PuyLaurent. He believes he might die of a heart attack. Well, everything is possible at the age of 94. And so we are off on our own.
Hana becomes quite an avid donkey handler. 
Jacob, on the other hand, has some issues. Donkeys are not really stubborn. They're just very decisive.We walk from Goudet to Boucet St.Nicolas. We are scheduled to sleep in Boucet St.Nicolas, but Jacob forgets to tell us and we are talking so much that we walk through the town, and end up in Landos, 6 kilometers further. At this point in time the walking is still easy, but not so easy that we decide to walk the 6 kilometers back.
We follow some signs of ‘Gites d’etappes’ in Landos and end up in a luxurious hostel (Les Fonds) for half the price with a room on the ground floor.
We eat at Le Dauphin.
Every night, we put them into an enclosure which is made especially for travelers with donkeys.When de-saddling the donkeys, the first thing they do is roll around in the sand to itch their backs.
Tuesday
July 27, 2009
Day 3: Landos to Pradelles (17 Kms, approx. 205 m altitude gain, 435 m descent)
Route: Landos, Jagonas, Arquejolles, Pradelles.
A Dutch hiker, who walked the same route, wrote this about it (in Dutch of course) ‘
‘In de schaduw van hoge naaldbomen wandelen we naar Pradelles, het hoogst gelegen stadje van Frankrijk (1160m). De middeleeuwse huizen, de klokketoren van de Notre Dame en discotheek Le Stevenson, maken dit plaatsje tot verplichte kost.’
We continue our hike. We saddle the donkeys right in front of our room. We walk to Pradelles, quite a tough march that day, and we barely make it. 
We try to figure out ways to make it shorter, but there are no short-cuts. We find a lot of stone troughs on our way, filled with water. The donkeys will stop for everything that is green, and if it were up to them, you wouldn’t walk more than a kilometer per hour.
Hana has taken her drawing material along, and Jacob is always after bugs and other insects that bite or sting. In Pradelles, on the town square, we run – by accident – into opa, oma and Tien. 
They decide to spend the night with us in the Gite d’Etappe. It is a memorable experience. We have great fun over dinner in the evening, so much in fact that the other guests in the restaurant throw us annoyed glances. The people that sleep that night in the same Gites as us will also not easily forget us; at night Opa breaks a bed, Jacob drags his mattress downstairs due to the noise level, Reinoud spends most of his night text messaging and everybody is awake due to flatulent disturbances.
We try to figure out ways to make it shorter, but there are no short-cuts. We find a lot of stone troughs on our way, filled with water. The donkeys will stop for everything that is green, and if it were up to them, you wouldn’t walk more than a kilometer per hour.Hana has taken her drawing material along, and Jacob is always after bugs and other insects that bite or sting. In Pradelles, on the town square, we run – by accident – into opa, oma and Tien. They decide to spend the night with us in the Gite d’Etappe. It is a memorable experience. We have great fun over dinner in the evening, so much in fact that the other guests in the restaurant throw us annoyed glances. The people that sleep that night in the same Gites as us will also not easily forget us; at night Opa breaks a bed, Jacob drags his mattress downstairs due to the noise level, Reinoud spends most of his night text messaging and everybody is awake due to flatulent disturbances. A Dutch hiker, who walked the same route, wrote this about it (in Dutch of course) ‘
‘In de schaduw van hoge naaldbomen wandelen we naar Pradelles, het hoogst gelegen stadje van Frankrijk (1160m). De middeleeuwse huizen, de klokketoren van de Notre Dame en discotheek Le Stevenson, maken dit plaatsje tot verplichte kost.’
Monday
July 28, 2009
Day 4: Pradelles to Cheylard L'Eveque (22.2 kms, 320 m altitude gain, 150 m descent)
Route: Pradelles, Langogne, St Flour de Mercoire, Sagnes Rousse, Fouzzilac, Foret de Merocire, Cheylard L'Eveque 
Breakfast is taken on the edge of Pradelles, overlooking the surrounding farmland. Pradelles is situated on the edge of the volcanic chain of Deves, and overlooks the Allier Valley. 
We leave the medieval town and descent into the Allier Valley, on our way to Le Cheylard l’Eveque.
Hana picks some apples while standing on Filou, This goes well until Filou sees something nice to eat a little further down the road.
We leave the medieval town and descent into the Allier Valley, on our way to Le Cheylard l’Eveque.Hana picks some apples while standing on Filou, This goes well until Filou sees something nice to eat a little further down the road. Miles of wooded valleys, pastures, farm tracks and cinder paths. Most church bells in this area are not enclosed in a tower. The reason? During bad weather, the church bells are rung to guide lost people to the safety of the village, and the bells ring louder if they aren't enclosed in a Belfrey. Cheylard L'Eveque has a small chapel across from the Refuge but the main religious monument to visit is Notre Dame de Tous Graces on a hill above the village.
A Dutch hiker writes the following ' Langogne, een stadje van 4.000 inwoners, heeft een station langs de spoorlijn Parijs-Nîmes en een kaarsrechte hoofdstraat vol winkels, restaurants en hotels. Het aardigst is het oude stadsgedeelte rondom de 11e eeuwse kerk met de overdekte markt op de Place des Halles. Langogne ligt in het gewest van de Gévaudan, een ruwe heuvelachtige streek. Verdwenen is het boerenland met z'n weilanden en kleine dorpen. De grootscheepse ontbossing ten behoeve van de houtskoolwinning heeft de hoogvlakten weinig goed gedaan. Kaalslag en erosie waren het gevolg. Maar voor de bewoners van de Gévaudan had de houtkap ook een positief effect: het verjoeg de wolf van zijn natuurlijke woonplaats en maakte voorgoed een einde aan de praktijken van la bete du Gévaudan. Deze vraatzuchtige wolf terroriseerde de omgeving van 1764 tot 1767. Hij had het vooral gemunt op kinderen en bloedmooie herderinnen. De wolf van Gévaudan werd op 20 september 1767 in het Bois de Pommières gedood door M. Antoine. Nu kruist alleen een Vlaamse gaai ons wandelpad. Door moerassig grasland bereiken we Fouzillac.
De geasfalteerde weg naar Luc ligt als een zwart lint in het golvende landschap. Uit het kasteel van Luc, een verzameling steenklompen en muren, rijst het beeld van de Madonna als een witte phoenix op. In het dal stroomt de Allier. We volgen de D 154 naar het zuiden. En omdat het trappistenklooster Notre-Dame des Neiges een 'must' is voor Stevensonliefhebbers, klimmen we het eindeloze pad omhoog.
De abdij (1850) ligt in een vallei omlijst door weiland en bos. Over de bomen beiert een kerkklok die de broeders zeven keer per dag oproept tot gebed. Vivre pour prier, leven om te bidden. Voor de broodnodige inkomsten verkoopt de kloosterorde wijn, souvenirs a en religieuze kitsch. In het Maison de Retraite, de Hôtellerie, kun je overnachten.’
De geasfalteerde weg naar Luc ligt als een zwart lint in het golvende landschap. Uit het kasteel van Luc, een verzameling steenklompen en muren, rijst het beeld van de Madonna als een witte phoenix op. In het dal stroomt de Allier. We volgen de D 154 naar het zuiden. En omdat het trappistenklooster Notre-Dame des Neiges een 'must' is voor Stevensonliefhebbers, klimmen we het eindeloze pad omhoog.
De abdij (1850) ligt in een vallei omlijst door weiland en bos. Over de bomen beiert een kerkklok die de broeders zeven keer per dag oproept tot gebed. Vivre pour prier, leven om te bidden. Voor de broodnodige inkomsten verkoopt de kloosterorde wijn, souvenirs a en religieuze kitsch. In het Maison de Retraite, de Hôtellerie, kun je overnachten.’
Sunday
July 29, 2009
Day 5: Cheylard L'Eveque to La Bastide Puylaurent (18 kms, 240 m altitude gain, 380 m descent)
Route: Cheylard L'Eveque, Luc, Laveyrune, La Bastide Puylaurent.
We decide on our first major short cut. We totally have had it with this hiking and these donkeys. My toe nail is coming off. We hike a good 5 kilometers when Jacob decides we went the wrong way. After a slight heart-attack, it is decided we didn’t go the wrong way anyway, and continue. We pick up on the original GR 70 right after that, and walk into a forest with a little lake. As we get ready to swim, we've tied our donkeys to a tree, the familiy with donkey who left the Gites a good hour before us, staggers onto the little lake in the forest in which we swim. They are quite surprised. “Alors, dites- moi, comment ca ce faites?”
The track has feeding troughs, pines, ferns and sections were logging roads with huge cut logs on the side. Across the Allier River that marks the border between the Lozere and Ardeche.
Downhill from Rogleton through a marshy, narrow area, across a stream, into the forest, across the first stile of this trip and then a mini-swinging bridge all the way to La Bastide Puy Laurent. In the village of Luc we run into opa and oma once again..
We're almost at the end. 8 more km to go . The last time we cross the Allier, the last time we have to watch for the white-red road sign (indication for a GR). Bastide Puy Laurent was just a hamlet in the 18th century with a few inns where mule passengers and pilgrims stayed. The first church wasn't built until 1741. A Pharmacie across the street ordered huge "Second Skin" plasters for Steve from Langogne to be picked up. I could use a few of those. And it was over a century earlier, on 26 September 1878, that Stevenson himself arrived at La Bastide-Puylaurent with his small donkey Modestine.
The hike continues via Le Bleymard, Pont de Montvert, Florac, Cassagnas, St Germain de Calberte to St Jean du Gard.
Guesthouses on the Stevenson Route (http://www.gr70-stevenson.com/en/trail.htm)
Another hiker http://www.wandelpaden.com/Rubriek7b.html
And another hiker http://www.gr70-stevenson.com/en/crane.htm
Map of the trail http://www.gr-infos.com/gr70.htm
Background information http://www.expatway-magazine.com/article.php?lang=en&rubr_id=2&arti_id=708
Route: Cheylard L'Eveque, Luc, Laveyrune, La Bastide Puylaurent.
We decide on our first major short cut. We totally have had it with this hiking and these donkeys. My toe nail is coming off. We hike a good 5 kilometers when Jacob decides we went the wrong way. After a slight heart-attack, it is decided we didn’t go the wrong way anyway, and continue. We pick up on the original GR 70 right after that, and walk into a forest with a little lake. As we get ready to swim, we've tied our donkeys to a tree, the familiy with donkey who left the Gites a good hour before us, staggers onto the little lake in the forest in which we swim. They are quite surprised. “Alors, dites- moi, comment ca ce faites?”
The track has feeding troughs, pines, ferns and sections were logging roads with huge cut logs on the side. Across the Allier River that marks the border between the Lozere and Ardeche.
Downhill from Rogleton through a marshy, narrow area, across a stream, into the forest, across the first stile of this trip and then a mini-swinging bridge all the way to La Bastide Puy Laurent. In the village of Luc we run into opa and oma once again..
We're almost at the end. 8 more km to go . The last time we cross the Allier, the last time we have to watch for the white-red road sign (indication for a GR). Bastide Puy Laurent was just a hamlet in the 18th century with a few inns where mule passengers and pilgrims stayed. The first church wasn't built until 1741. A Pharmacie across the street ordered huge "Second Skin" plasters for Steve from Langogne to be picked up. I could use a few of those. And it was over a century earlier, on 26 September 1878, that Stevenson himself arrived at La Bastide-Puylaurent with his small donkey Modestine.
The hike continues via Le Bleymard, Pont de Montvert, Florac, Cassagnas, St Germain de Calberte to St Jean du Gard.
Guesthouses on the Stevenson Route (http://www.gr70-stevenson.com/en/trail.htm)
Another hiker http://www.wandelpaden.com/Rubriek7b.html
And another hiker http://www.gr70-stevenson.com/en/crane.htm
Map of the trail http://www.gr-infos.com/gr70.htm
Background information http://www.expatway-magazine.com/article.php?lang=en&rubr_id=2&arti_id=708
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