Après Stevenson: a few reflections & some stats

Now that we are done walking and Greg is flying home, I finally have time and energy to reflect on our walk. Whew! First, it was harder than either of us imagined. Second, if we had given ourselves more time, we could have walked fewer miles each day and had more time to enjoy the towns we visited. Third, three weeks traveling with one’s spouse (or with anyone for that matter) makes one appreciate being alone.

Our plan was to walk from Le Puy en Velay to Alès. It’s the entire modern Stevenson trail, about 267 kilometers or about 166 miles. Stevenson only walked from Le Monastier sur Gazeille (where he purchased his donkey Modestine to carry all of his things) to St. Jean du Gard (where he sold her at a loss because she was no longer fit to travel) So he never walked the first and last sections of the modern trail, but he did visit both those towns. His 12-day walk with his donkey was perhaps about 200 kilometers or about 124 miles. It’s hard to know his exact path, but the towns he stayed in are well documented in his book. After he sold his broken-down beast of burden, he took the diligence (a French stagecoach of sorts) to Alès, eager for news of his beloved Fanny.

We, on the other hand, started in Le Puy en Velay with Greg carrying 30 pounds of our camping stuff on his back. (I knew my limits & carried only 10 pounds.) Walking around here is nothing like walking around Johnston!

My donkey was done in after those first two days, when he learned that he could not carry all that weight up and down the rocky paths. (When Greg is too tired to eat, you know it’s serious.) We then used the Malle Postale (a French travel business whose motto is “hike light” or in French: “Randonnez légèrement”) Things went much better after that change and our sabbath from walking to start refreshed.

Our final statistics: 10 walking days covering about 122 miles. On average, we walked about 12 miles each walking day. We started walking on September 13 in Le Puy en Velay and stopped our walk in St Jean du Gard on the 27th. As I work to catch up on my blog, you’ll discover that we preferred short days and truly loved our rest days. (Glad we scheduled extra days to do the walk.) But we never gave up – and we had no tears or meltdowns or big fights. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what we learned by walking the Stevenson Trail in France this September, but perhaps by filling in the gaps of our journey, I’ll figure it out.

Stevenson’s original journal (only published for the first time in 1978 in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of his walk) revealed a lot of his anxiety and distress, whereas the edited and published version (which came out a few months after his walk in 1878) had a pleasant and humorous tone. Hahaha. I get it. I’m hoping to find meaning and humor in our journey (now that the pain has left my legs and feet) as I slowly look back – while relaxing in Nimes, a beautiful once-Roman city about 30 minutes by train from Alès, the terminus of the Stevenson Trail. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!