Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes revealed Robert Louis Stevenson's romantic temperament and his interest in picturesque history, people, and places during his 12-day, 200-kilometre solo hiking journey through the sparsely populated and impoverished areas of the Cévennes mountains in south-central France.
Review
If you enjoy non-fiction, travelogues, nature, and history, this book is perfect for you. It is beautifully written and packed with humor and meditations. It provides a fantastic pause in our fast-paced lives. Imagine following the author as he wanders through the Cévennes mountains, which remind him of his native Scotland. He is guided by a capricious, stubborn, but endearing female donkey. He is heartbroken because his beloved had to return to the United States, but eventually, he marries her. He follows in the footsteps of George Sand, whom he admires and, as a Protestant, pays tribute to the Huguenot insurgents who were persecuted, tortured, and slaughtered under the reign of Louis XIV after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
These travels are to be regarded as physical, spiritual, and initiatory, much like John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. It's a hymn to slowness, idleness, respect, and love of a severe and wild nature. He even crosses the famous land of Gévaudan. It is a blessed break for him, and for us, a wonderful opportunity to self-reflect.
Nowadays, this trip of about twelve days has become a great hiking trail, and we can even follow in his footsteps with the gentle ghost of Modestine by our side.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the author and re-discovering the Cévennes through his eyes.
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