Erstwhile

Thursday, August 29, 2013

We shared our dining table with a couple who had already walked the length of the GR10 from Hendaye to Banyuls and were now doing a shorter stretch from east to west. They talked about their experiences with complete unanimity, referring to their combined weight loss on the long walk: 17 kilos, their combined pack weights ( I forget). Perhaps this was a tacit agreement between them to obfuscate the fact that the man had clearly lost the lion's share of the weight and was probably carrying the lion's share of the weight. They spoke with admiration of a 75 year old they had met on the path who was carrying 25 kilos in his pack - what a man! No fool like an old fool, I thought. They had tales of horror of the previous day's walk (which we were facing tomorrow). Flooding ("inondation"), snow patches ( "neves"), dangerous snow bridges, rain, hail ("grellions") - only fire and pestilence were missing. They reckoned the Pyrenees were a much harder hike than the Alps or Corsica. None of this gave me much confidence for the next day but the others were only encouraged.

And it turned out the next day was long but not particularly difficult. We skipped gaily across the neves, easily dodging the snow bridges. The flooding had largely dissipated and the scenery was spectacular.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

2013 Le Chemin de Stevenson

Florac

Went walking in the Cevennes for five days at the end of June. The walk is the GR70 and starts at Le Puy-en-Velay and ends at St Jean du Gard. It runs through 4 departments - Haute Loire, Ardeche, Lozere and Gard. It is known as Le Chemin de Stevenson after Robert Louis Stevenson who walked it in or about 1870 and wrote an inconsequential but mercifully short book about it: Travels with a donkey. The local tourism industry has milked the Stevenson connection for all it is worth, with restaurants, gites and gift shops named for him and his donkey, Modestine. Obviously the route and surroundings have changed considerably since Stevenson’s time but it is still a delightful walk. I started in the middle at La Bastide. Took the train from Paris, changing at Clermon-Ferrand. I stayed at La Grand’Halte which was cheap and perfectly satisfactory and gave me a dormitory to myself. The area is famous for its chestnuts so I chose a chestnut dish for my dessert. It proved to be a harmless concoction out of some industrial kitchen.

Chasserades station

Wildflowers

I stopped for the night at a gite just north of the village of Les Alpiers. The gite was a large building with good views over a wide valley, run by a Dutch woman who had been there for thirty years. The meal was spectacular, about a dozen of us around a large table on a first floor covered-in terrace. 5 courses, each excellent. The Dutchwoman was scathing about tourists but generous in her praise of walkers, ‘randonneurs.’ Tourists all complained there was “nothing to do” (why would there be in one of the least populated areas of France?) while randoneurs just enjoyed the solitude and anyway were too tired to complain. This place alone was worth the walk. Again I had a dormitory to myself. There is alternative accommodation in tepees available in the village.

Les Alpiers

Next day an easy climb up to the highest point of the walk - Le Sommets de Finniels (1699m). The top of the hill was exposed to a strong cold wind so I did not linger.

Le sommet

However, I did see my first donkey being used as a pack animal - led by an embarrassed-looking walker who was probably photographed by everyone he encountered. The publicity material for the walk makes much of the possibility of hiring a donkey for those who are too lazy or infirm to carry their own pack but I suspect leading a donkey might be harder work than carrying your own things. Certainly Stevenson had to beat his donkey to get it to move, once resorted to carrying his own portmanteau when it refused and only got it to perform its duties when he equipped himself with a sharp-pointed stick, technically a goad. However to add a little colour to his narrative he gave the animal a name - Modestine - and hey presto, a legend was born.

The rest of the walk was easy and picturesque, culminating in a pleasant descent to Pont le Montvert in the Tarn valley. The first house in the town had a welcome sign outside - Un con qui marche va plus loins qu’un intellectuel assis. Loosely translated : A fool who walks goes further than an intellectual on his backside. That’s me I thought: un con qui marche. I found a bed at the Gite Municipaux. The rooms were named for local flowers: mine was easy to remember: Pensees ( pansies). There were three beds in the room, two taken by a man and a woman. I had a few beers outside a bar overlooking the town and the river, an exquisite view of stone houses and a mediaeval bridge, the very bridge where a recalcitrant protestant, one Esprit Seguier Seguier was burned alive (brule vif) in July 2004.

Cow

Pont-le-Montvert

The next day’s walk was pleasant and easy through a mixture of gentle hills, cow pasture and forest. Stopped for a beer just before Chasserades and admired the railway viaduct. The railway is the highest in France outside the Pyrenees. I stopped for the night at a gite just north of the village of Les Alpiers. The gite was a large building with good views over a wide valley, run by a Dutch woman who had been there for thirty years. The meal was spectacular, about a dozen of us around a large table on a first floor covered-in terrace. 5 courses, each excellent. The Dutchwoman was scathing about tourists but generous in her praise of walkers, ‘randonneurs.’ Tourists all complained there was “nothing to do” (why would there be in one of the least populated areas of France?) while randoneurs just enjoyed the solitude and anyway were too tired to complain. This place alone was worth the walk. Again I had a dormitory to myself. There is alternative accommodation in tepees available in the village.

Slate roof

Bridge at Pont-le-Montvert

Towards Florac

Market day in Florac

Randonneurs

Michael, Gerard, Veronica & Jacques

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Nice

Wednesday 1 August 2012 - La Croix du Bonhomme

Club Alpin Francais Refuge

Thursday 2 August 2012 - Landry

Walk to Chapieux and thence Bourg St Maurice and bus to Landry;
Maison Caramel

Friday 3 August 2012 - Le Palet

Shuttle to Rosuel then walk to CAF Refuge Col du Palet

Saturday 4 August 2012 - Val d'Isere

Auberge St Hubert

Sunday 5 August 2012 - Bonneval sur Arc

L'auberge d'Oul

Monday 6 August 2012 - Termignon

Hotel l'Outa

Tuesday 7 August 2012 - Modane

La Perce Neige

Wednesday 8 August 2012 - Modane

Thursday 9 August 2012 -

Refuge Tre Alpini

Friday 10 August 2012 - Plampinet

Auberge Le Cleida

Saturday 11 August 2012 - Briançon

Gite Le Bois de Barraca

Sunday 12 August 2012 - La Chalp

Monday 13 August 2012 - Ceillac

Tuesday 14 August 2012 - Maljasset

Wednesday 15 August 2012 - Pra Loup

Thursday 16 August 2012 - Bayasse

Friday 17 August 2012 - St Delmas le Selvage

Saturday 18 August 2012 - St Delmas le Selvage

Sunday 19 August 2012 - Auron

Monday 20 August 2012 - Roya

Refuge

Tuesday 21 August 2012 - Longon

Refuge

Wednesday 22August 2012 - St Sauveur sur Tinée

Thursday23 August 2012 - St Delmas Valdeblore

Friday 24 August 2012 - Utelle

Saturday 25 August 2012 - Utelle

Sunday 26 August 2012 - Aspremont

Monday 27 August 2012 - Nice

Hostel St Exupery

I walked down the last Alp from Aspremont to Nice. I have now reached the Mediterranean. Big deal. I lost my hat in Utelle and had to wear a hanky on my head. Betty gave me the hanky: it belonged to Donald. Michel said I looked like Dennis Hopper in That Movie. I am the Easy Walker.