We had lovely accommodations in the old centre of town – a maze of narrow streets and stairs. It is surrounded by puys or rock pinnacles of volcanic origin made more spectacular by the monuments perched on them – the 10 th century chapel of St Michel de L’Aiguille and the 27m high Notre-Dame-de-France, made from melted-down cannons captured from the Russians during the Crimean war. This lovely town is also one of the traditional starting points for the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela. We began our trip at Le Puy-en-Velay, half a day’s walk from Le Monastier. Liz and I were eager to explore this little-known, sparsely populated area, learning more about its history, enjoying the food and the spectacular countryside, and challenging ourselves with a 250 kilometre walk that included considerable changes in altitude.Īs on my previous walks, we worked with a specialist walking company who booked our accommodations (which included breakfasts and dinners), provided us with maps and detailed directions to assist with following the relatively well-marked trails, and, importantly, moved our bags each day so we only needed to carry a day pack.

I was also drawn to this area because I had read “ A Good Place to Hide” by Australian journalist Peter Grose, which tells the little-known story of how the local Protestant communities had defied the edicts of Vichy France during World War TWo to save 3,500 Jews. He wrote about his trip and the Camisards (French Huguenots) in “Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes”. He chose this isolated, mountainous area because it has a strong Protestant tradition that survived the Wars of Religion and the purges of the 17 th century. We were following in the footsteps of author Robert Louis Stevenson, who in September 1878, with his donkey Modestine, walked from Le Monastier-sur-Gazielle to St Jean-du-Gard, and then on to Alés. This is the story of my most recent trip with Elizabeth (Liz) Dax, taken September-October in the Cévennes Mountains in south-central France. I have written about my previous walks on the Camino le Puy and in the Perigord Noir. Readers of Croakey and my Twitter followers know that I have a serious case of the “walking in France” bug.

Their 250 kilometre journey took them across spectacular countryside, into fascinating history and to explaining (and apologising for) Australia’s asylum seeker policies over dinner. In this latest longread, veteran walker and Croakey GO contributor Dr Lesley Russell heads off, with friend and novice walker Elizabeth Dax, in the footsteps of author Robert Louis Stevenson. We are open to your ideas, so please contact us if you’d like to make a contribution.

CroakeyEXPLORE is a series that seeks to profile healthy, active, sustainable holidays and other cultural pursuits, undertaken both at home and abroad.

Robert louis stevenson donkey walk