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Walk in Stevenson’s footsteps
Today, the path that Stevenson took has been retraced in its present form as the “GR® 70”, a long-distance footpath lined with relays that welcome lovers of the great outdoors, lovers of these authentic and unspoilt landscapes. Need to get away from your daily routine? This path is made for you! Magnificent landscapes and beautiful encounters await you.
Every year tens of thousands of people follow in the footsteps of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson in the Cévennes region. Stevenson recounts this adventure in his book “Voyage avec un âne dans les Cévennes”, from Monastier sur Gazeille to Saint Jean du Gard, the man undertakes a journey of 12 days over 220 kilometres. There is no better way to discover the riches of this sublime region than on foot!
But who was Stevenson?
Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, capital of misty Scotland. His parents and grandparents were lighthouse engineers. However, it is a nurse named Cummy who will raise him. She whom Stevenson later called “the angel of my childhood” was a treasure trove of tales, poems and old Scottish ballads. It is in this atmosphere and that of his father’s library, full of adventure books, that Robert-Louis evolves and gradually develops a taste for sedentary life and the desire to “sleep at the foot of the trees and see the sun rise on a new horizon every day”.
But before that, he had to put up with school. His fragile health and the discipline of the time did not suit him, he suffered from chest pains and the Scottish climate was not beneficial to him. It was then, at the age of 13, that Robert-Louis was lucky enough to make a trip to the Côte d’Azur. Already at this time, he dreamed of being a writer and, 3 years later, he published at his father’s expense a first 22-page novel: “La Révolte du Pentland”. Despite his aspirations and determination, his family decided that he would become a lawyer and enrolled him in the Faculty of Law at the University of Edinburgh where he made a flop. Our Robert-Louis prefers girls and docks to classrooms. In spite of this, his family forced him this time to do an internship in a solicitor’s office. Of course, he will learn how to be a lawyer, but it is above all the art of writing that he will learn. He reads a lot and feels strongly attracted to French culture and this country whose spirit of independence he loves.
From 1874 to 1879, he lived most of his time in France, in the North. In an inn in Grès-sur-Loing, he fell in love with a 37-year-old American girl, Fanny Osborne. She was married and mother of two children, Robert-Louis had no stable situation, so he set out to visit the Cévennes, hoping to forget this impossible love. He takes the train and stops at the village of Monastier-sur-Gazeille, a few kilometres from Le Puy-en-Velay.
The adventure can begin!
We are in September 1878, the trip will be prepared during the whole month. In the village, Stevenson amazes. It is not common to see travellers of this kind. He buys a donkey that he calls “Modestine” and equips himself, for the trip, with a pistol and a pocket knife, an alcohol lamp, a lantern, candles, a pan, a rope, and as food supplies, chocolate and boxes of mortadella. On Sunday, September 22, 1878, he left the Monastier to reach Saint-Jean-du-gard after 12 days and 220 km of walking.
A walker, but also a writer
Almost a year later, in 1879, he published his “Journal de Route” under the title: Voyage en Cévennes avec un âne. He will also be the author of “Treasure Island” and “Dr.Jeckyll and Mr.Hyde”.
Today, the path that Stevenson took has been retraced in its present form as the “GR® 70”, a long-distance footpath lined with relays that welcome lovers of the great outdoors, lovers of these authentic and unspoilt landscapes. Need to get away from your daily routine? This path is made for you! Magnificent landscapes and beautiful encounters await you.