We are about 90% set on doing the "Stevenson walk" this summer as a self-guided walk. It would be two weeks, 165 miles (266 km), and we'd start in early June. This is a walk Robert Louis Stevenson did with a donkey; he wrote a book about his experiences in 1879. Now his route is the GR70 trail. Here is the route we would take.
Our walk would begin in Le Puy-en-Velay in the Haute-Loire, and take us through the Lozère and the Ardèche finally ending up in the Gard in a town called Alès, not far from Nîmes. Much of the route goes through the Cévennes, a national park.
We've never been in this area and don't know very much about it. We wanted to experience a different part of France and to do a longer walk, though we didn't want to deal with extremely difficult mountains. We would stay in small hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses, and our luggage would be moved every day.
I've ordered a couple of guidebooks but would love to hear from anyone with personal experience. Who is familiar with this area-- or any of the towns/villages on the route? What can you tell us?
We put in a day and a night in Le Puy with our motorhome last October. Probably one of the most interesting cities in France, especially if you are interested in medieval history. This was the starting off point of one of the four great pilgramage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Today the GR 65 closely follows that route. It is also a center for lace making. You should try to spend a day there exploring the sites.
Gail, I'll definitely be keeping a journal and posting after-the-fact, but not sure about internet access and keeping a real-time blog. Maybe this will be the time to figure out a mobile phone that provides a wireless connection!
We are talking to a France-based walking tour company about the logistics of the trip. They would provide us with the route maps/notes, make our accommodation arrangements, and get the luggage moved each day. We would have half-board accommodation, with breakfast and dinner included.
Tom, thanks for your input about Le Puy. Our plan is to get there by train the day we arrive in Paris and spend two nights. That would give us a full day+ to explore the town and get over jet lag, before beginning the walk.
I'm a fairly regular visitor to the Southern part of the route.
It is a remote area with a very small population, rugged countryside and some quite wild parts.
Ales - former mining & industrial town undergoing regeneration. Worth visiting the coal mine museum (www.mine-temoin.fr ). Sub prefecture of Gard.
St Jean du Gard - a pretty market town. Rather lost its prosperity as wine, olives and silk has declined. Has a steam train linking it to Anduze and le Bambousserie.
Florac - is a small isolated town on the edge of Gorge du Tarn. It has some hotels and restaurants. Sub prefecture of Lozere.
The other Southern stops are small villages.
A relative walked part of the route a couple of years ago. He found the going more difficult than expected, as he had to climb up valleys to cross bridges to the other side. He also discovered that there are some bus services, when you get tired !
Note that temperatures can be high, even in early June.
I wonder whether there will be cell phone coverage way out there in the country. Even here in Saint-Aignan, it's not always easy for our visitors to get a signal.
We drove from Florac to Ales last spring on N106 on our way from the Dordogne to Provence. It was a beautiful drive through very rugged country on a rainy morning. I hope your route is not QUITE so rugged!
Peter, thanks so much for the info and the photos! This gets me even more psyched about the walk. It will be a very different environment for us than the Luberon, which is what we were looking for.
I did check temperatures on www.wunderground.com, looking at Nimes on June 19 for the last ten years. This would be close to our southernmost point and the last day of walking. It looks like the max temperature has ranged from 77 to 91 degrees F, with an average of just under 84 degrees. The humidity is also much more pleasant than what we deal with here in the southeast USA.
This is the earliest we can get over there due to some family commitments (my dad's 75th birthday celebration), so I have my fingers crossed that we'll have pleasant days reaching the mid 80's and hopefully little or no rain. We'll do our best to start early in the morning, though we have a couple of longish days.
In 2004 we did a 190 mile walk across England, and we would really enjoy a similar experience-- beautiful scenery, some challenge, interesting people, a chance to be in areas most tourists don't go. This walk is considered "moderate to challenging," a grade 3 walk (similar to the Luberon) on a scale of 1-4. (And I won't feel too badly if we can't get internet service or use our cell phones-- on our 14-month trip a few years ago, we managed fine without a cell phone!)
We love the Cevennes! Discovered them two years ago, needing a stop between Provence and the Dordogne. We returned last year and are planning to return again this year.
As Peter stated, it's very rustic but also very beautiful.
Here is are some links to my blog entries from last year
Charley, Kelly and I are flying back to France on Wednesday, and will then travel by train to Le Puy en Velay. We have one full day in Le Puy before we begin our walk on the GR 70 (Robert Louis Stevenson trail) on Saturday. We will walk about 165 miles, from Le Puy en Velay to Alès-- 13 total days of walking.
We are doing a self-guided walk, and our luggage will be moved each day to our accommodation for the night. We'll just hike with a day pack. (We are NOT traveling with a donkey, like Robert Louis Stevenson did!)
This will be our family's sixth long-distance walk in Europe. We didn't do a walk in 2007, and we're really looking forward to having this type of active vacation again. I've been studying the guidebook for the walk over the last week, and I'm really getting psyched about experiencing a new area of France and spending 13 days outdoors!
I don't think we'll have much access to the internet during the walk, but I'll report back when I can and will post some photos later too.
Kathy, what an amazing experience for an equally amazing family. I will be so interested in hearing about your adventures and seeing the photographs. I keep thinking in years to come and in fact for all the years of your daughters life how meaningful these "family" events will be. I am in awe of what you are giving her as a lifelong foundation. Cheers to you all. Safe travels. Barb Cabot
Posts: 414 | Location: Long Beach, California | Registered: 27 August 2007
Kathy, Good luck to you, Charley and Kelly. I admire your energy and your curiosity. It will be memorable! I wish we were doing such a thing. Just think how fit you'll feel! We'll enjoy hearing about it later. Linda and Steve
Posts: 646 | Location: Outlying area of Chicago | Registered: 15 September 2004
We've been in Le Puy about 24 hours. This is our "jet lag recovery" day before we begin our walk tomorrow. It has been drizzly/rainy all day and quite cool-- only 13 degrees C right now (55!!!!!). Can this possibly be June?? The forecast for tomorrow isn't any better, but at least we are heading south.
We did have a chance to explore Le Puy today, despite the weather. It's a unique town and a very busy place. This is the starting place of one of the four routes to Santiago de Compostela, and there are lots of pilgrims and walkers. The Stevenson walk doesn't officially start in Le Puy-- tomorrow we walk about 12 miles to Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille, which is where RLS started his journey.
We took a bus today to a commercial area outside the old town to go to a Decathalon sports store. We bought Kelly a warmer fleece. We are not really prepared for temperatures in the 50's, but we will wear layers and hopefully the weather will improve!
I'm not sure when we'll have internet access again, but I'll post back if we do. Thanks everyone for the good wishes!
It is Monday morning, and this is the first time we have had internet access in over a week. We are getting ready to head out soon for our 10th day of our 13 day walk on the Sentier de Stevenson. We have walked about 120 miles.
Although we've had several days of very cool and wet weather (mud on the trail!), the countryside is this remote part of France is absolutely beautiful with many sweeping views. The wildflowers and the colors are almost overwhelming. We began our
