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Walking in France along The Robert Louis Stevenson Trail in 2008
On top of the world - or at least Mont Lozere, at 1699 ms.
A member of The Enlightened Traveller team walked the 252 kilometres of The Stevenson Trail as part of its 130th anniversary celebrations in 2008. Here are his considerations on what has now become a classic French trek.
I decided it was easier to fly into Nimes, and make my way north on the Cévenol train, rather than struggle through The Channel Tunnel, Lyon, St Etienne and so on. I was right; and the chance to catch a glimpse en route of some of the terrain I was about to walk across, was a sneak preview I really appreciated – despite the sight of the snow-covered Virgin Mary on top of the Notre-Dame-de-Pradelles chapel. Yes, it had snowed overnight at the end of March. Nothing unusual in that, but fortunately the bulk of it had melted by the time I walked into the ‘Granite City’ two days later.
We select the best hotels in each location for our customers and Le Puy is no exception. Nevertheless, other options merit our attention, and so we always like to stay in un-tested hotels where we can on subsequent visits to a town. The overnight stay in just-such-a-hotel in Le Puy was not great, despite having booked into a 2-star national chain for that supposed extra bit of ‘reassurance.’ Like so many of the region’s hotels, it had seen better days and was suffering from underinvestment. The welcome was poor to put it mildly, but was at least consistent with the failure to communicate by email – and I work for a tour operator prepared to give them business for nothing [We no longer use the hotel in question - MD].
The room wasn’t ready until 16.00 hrs; the reversible heating system only worked 'one way,' the radiators were cold at 16.30 and breakfast was an after-thought. I wouldn’t be arranging my picnic lunch here, then. Was this symptomatic of Le Puy? I recalled having had my head bitten off the last time I was in town (when walking The Regordane) as a result of asking for a second blanket for my bed; and was shocked to find myself forced to use the table as a plate for my croissant and jam the next morning. Thankfully, I took the opportunity to check out some alternative accommodation that was above average, and here lies the first reason for booking through a specialised and responsible tour operator – we stay in the same places we send our customers to and continually check out alternatives for their benefit. Nothing is left to chance in order that our walking holidays in France run smoothly and comfortably.
Leaving Le Pont de Montvert
The tried-and-tested taxi and baggage service the next day was first class. Stevenson started his seminal France trek from Le Monastier and our belief in offering authentic experiences rules out making customers walk from Le Puy. Le Monastier’s polychrome abbey is one of Velay’s finest Roman works of art and its contiguous chateau-cum-museum a delight to behold. It houses a permanent Stevenson exhibition that my early start obliged me to forgo – I was in no mood to hang around for the June opening.
The walk to Le Bouchet is challenging, but immensely rewarding. First come the red soils of the volcanic uplands, followed quickly by a sharp rocky incline down to the Upper Loire Valley. Some of our customers actually opt to do the middle section only of Stevenson’s Trail, thus missing out on the memorable descent to Goudet that definitely qualifies it as part of our ‘Best of’ tour.
Stevenson sketched the ruins of the chateau de Beaufort at Goudet; you will delight in snapping it from multiple angles as you commence your climb to your night’s stop-over. Once again, I had chosen to risk-take in order to experience something new; but I hadn’t expected to find a brand new gite d’etape minus bed sheets and bathroom towels. Was I really going to add such items to my barely-sufficient 15- kilogramme luggage allowance? Another night, another lesson learnt.
The next day’s highlights include the splendid Arquejols viaduct which, like its counterpart at Mirandol to the south, was not around in Stevenson’s time. Built in 1908, the line was closed for economic reasons over a decade ago. Thus this wonder of industrial architecture remains eerily silent and sadly ignorant of the access requirements to France’s interior of the modern-day, back-to-nature, hiking fraternity. Lozère, the department that boasts the highest average altitude and the lowest population in France, fears a similar fate awaits its one remaining railway line, Le Cévenol, which would spell the death of the remaining family-run hotels, hard pressed to make ends meet as a result of the region’s glorious isolation. Whilst Stevenson was quick to laud the “sancta Solitudo” of French country life, the heavy toll dealt by WW1 (visible on the many cenotaphs in villages en route) and the subsequent rural exodus, sees the remaining locals worried sick about losing their main life-line to modern France due to narrow economic rationality.
Approaching Cassagnas
Stevenson had other concerns to contend with when he was hiking in France, like his own personal health problems, a departed lover and The French Wars of Religion. My preoccupations were much more profane: ensuring there had been no alterations to the route since my colleagues last walked it; taking photos for our website; and the gentle nursing of a nascent blister using a Compeed compound apparently not available in North America.
Stevenson slept out rough for the first time, and in inclement weather, at a place called Fouzillac, just north of Cheylard L’Eveque. Like our customers before me, I fared rather better, and chose to check out some alternative accommodation in Chaudeyrac. The day’s walking hadn’t been that good and rain had somewhat dampened my enthusiasm. The advertised one-and-a-half kilometre detour seemed more like four, but it was worth it: a warm welcome, great food and all mod cons. Other hoteliers could learn a few things from this proprietor, who has heavily invested in his business and, besides running the hotel, sells cepes mushrooms worldwide, raises wild boars and still has time to moan at his teenage daughter’s reluctance to do her half-an-hour’s homework in the evening – unfortunately in earshot of everyone in the hotel but, as a father of two small but headstrong girls, it was rather like relating to my own future.
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