Chemin de Stevenson (GR70)

Long-distance footpath retracing Stevenson's 1878 walk with a donkey

The GR70 — the Chemin de Stevenson — runs from Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille in Haute-Loire down through the Cévennes to Saint-Jean-du-Gard, broadly following the route Stevenson walked. Florac is roughly halfway and the standard overnight stop for through-walkers. The whole trail takes about ten days; a shorter stretch from Le Pont-de-Montvert to Florac (two days) gives a good taste of the wilder eastern section.

Several outfits in Le Monastier and Florac will rent you a donkey for the day, the week, or the whole route.

things to do sight
A story
Robert Louis Stevenson walked 195 kilometres from Le Monastier to Saint-Jean-du-Gard in twelve days in autumn 1878, with a donkey named Modestine to carry his luggage. The book he wrote about it, *Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes* (1879), is one of the first works of modern travel literature.