Glorious Quiet Countryside, Meadows and Shaded Chestnut Forests.
Pretty Riverside Strolls and Walks Over Low Mountains
THE CEVENNES
Walking Stevenson's Trail
In
the autumn of 1878, the Scots writer Robert Louis Stevenson, author of ‘Treasure
Island’ and ‘Kidnapped’, set out from Le Monastier in the Auvergne
to walk south across the Cevennes accompanied by ‘a small grey donkey
called Modestine, the colour of a mouse with a kindly eye’. It took this
pleasing pair eleven days to complete the trip, and the book that
Stevenson wrote about their journey, ‘Travels with a Donkey in the
Cevennes’ has since become a travel classic.
Stevenson should have put the
Cevennes ‘on the map’, but despite his account of his travels through
this beautiful region, it remains little known. The walk starts near Le
Puy en Velay in the Auvergne, in the extinct volcanoes to the north of the
Massif Central and follows a winding route southwards across the more
mountainous Cevennes on the eastern flank of the Massif Central. This is
the only inhabited French National Park.
The region that Stevenson chose
for his journey boasts great natural beauty and is almost totally unspoilt.
Depopulation, as drastic as that in Stevenson’s native Scotland, has
left a region full of sad romantic ruins. Whilst the Cevennes always
provide fairly rugged terrain and the walk does cross two significant
mountains, Mont du Goulet (1497m) and Mont Lozere (1699m), the walk itself
is not unduly demanding. Stevenson’s route can still be followed today
without drastic modification. Inns, where Stevenson stopped, still exist
and at Notre Dame des Neiges, the monks are still praying and brewing! We
have taken the liberty of replacing Modestine, Stevenson’s donkey, with
less troublesome methods of baggage handling!
Group Size: Min 2, max 12, plus trek leader
EJCV07 Thu 07 Jun - Sat 16 Jun
EJCV078 Thu 07 Jun - Thu 14 Jun
Research & development trip, see general information.
7
nights/8 days - This embraces a range of styles and
traditions, from medium sized modern hotels to small, intimate
family run pensions. In Le Puy our typically French
provincial 2* hotel is at the heart of the town. The accommodation
at Arlempdes is an excellent traditional 1* logis with a
homely stove and beamed restaurant boasting a speciality of ‘Truites
au Champagne’. In Pradelles you can enjoy the specialities
of the Auvergne. At La Bastide we enjoy a central hotel
with a restaurant. Our hotel in Le Bleymard is well
appointed with another beamed restaurant and a roaring hearth. At Le
Pont de Montvert our 2* hotel is modern but in a pleasant
riverside setting. In Florac we stay at an elegant 3* hotel where the eight day tour finishes.
9
nights/10 days - The eighth night is spent amidst
wonderful countryside at very modern lodgings in St Germain de
Calberte. At the journeys end in Saint Jean Du Gard is an
excellent provincial 2* hotel complete with a swimming pool.
Sherpa Notes
Waymarking
This route has undergone extensive waymarking that has made route finding fairly easy.
Accommodation
and Meals Dinner, bed and breakfast throughout (except last night of 10 day trip, B&B only). Country hotels of varying standard from tourist class to 3* (see dossier).
Start
and End of Tour
Train from Lyon to Le Puy via St Etienne. Return flight from Lyon.
Low cost airline Easyjet fly to Lyon.
