Introduction Stevenson Trail (GR 70)
The Robert Louis Stevenson Trail / Chemin de Stevenson is a straight line long distance walk through the Velay, the Gevaudan and the Cevennes in southern France. It largely follows the route that writer Robert Louis Stevenson with his donkey Modestine in the autumn of 1878 in unity. This trip was the basis for his first successful book, "Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879)" in Dutch translates to "Travel with a donkey through the Cevennes.
The 225 km long trail goes zigzagging south. Le Monastier-Sur-Le Puy en Valey Gazeille close in the Velay, the mountains of the Lozere and the Cevennes, to end at Saint-Jean-du-Gard west of Ales. The path goes through a remote and beautiful rural scenery. It also does a number of important historic towns and cities, including Pradelles, Le Pont-de-Mont Vert and Florac.
The last part of the walk goes through the land of the Camisards, an area where a nearly 100-year war has raged between local Protestants and their Catholic rulers.
The title of Stevenson's book suggests that the whole process goes through the Cevennes, but this is not the case. The walk starts in the Velay, and remains there until Langogne. Here it is about in the old district of Gevaudan which borders the Vivarais, the present Ardeche. At Mont Lozere, the path only in the Cevennes, which is just over half.
The trail passes through three art departments: Haute-Loire Langogne network, then the Lozere, and from col de Saint Pierre, which is 7 km for Saint-Jean-du-Gard, on the Gard. Haute-Loire is one of the Auvergne region. While Lozère and Gard, part of the Languedoc-Roussillon region forms.
Robert Louis Stevenson Path (Le Chemin de Stevenson "), also known as the GR 70, follows footpaths, grevelwegen old ruts, old veetrekpaden, forest paths and some quiet asphalt roads. The GR 70 is to do good for people with little or no long distance walking experience. He is the terrain and the distances to be easy. It is advisable to ensure that you have a good basic condition. The part in the Cevennes is hillier than the first part of the Gevaudan and Velay. But by then this should pose no problem.
When viewing the route by Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS) is gone, that he is not a straight line through the hills followed. His path zigzags west to east on its journey to the south. There are a number of possible reasons for this zigzag course.
First, it would be that Stevenson was not a good reader and the cards he had with him were not reliable. They were certainly not foreseen when the roads were under construction. It was also the people he met him unwilling or unable to tell how he had to walk. In Fouzillac / Fouzillic is he even hopelessly lost.
Second, he wanted to visit interesting places, from the direct route aflag. This is probably definitely been the reason for the detour on the first day where he was looking at the volcanic lake Lac du Bouchet, which he unfortunately never found.
Thirdly, there were few places where he himself and his donkey Modestine food could take. This may be the reason for the detour to Florac.
The last reason, the philosophy of his Stevenson "He Travelled not to go anywhere, but to go".
Some of the paths and roads used by RLS in 1878, are now included in the road network. This is why the GR 70 is not exactly the footsteps of RLS and Modestine. The route so that all the places he describes are served, except in the Tarn Valley, between Le Pont-de-Mont Vert and Florac.
