Pilgrim's Progress – Long Distance Walks in Europe and the UK

I behold The House,         the Brotherhood austere                               And what am I,                 that I am here? Robert Louis Stevenson – Travels in the Cevennes with a Donkey Midway through the afternoon I bumped into Hay. The weird thing was, I had sort of been thinking about her a few minutes before she appeared in front of…

Read more

Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. Saint Augustine What makes a miracle a miracle? I spent much of the day pondering this general question and a more specific question. Was what happened in Saumur on the 30th November 2016 to a young 21 year old carpenter…

Read more

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short William Shakespeare – Othello Act 2 Sc 3 Unless you are mad enough to be walking the GR4 through the Cevennes  it is very unlikely that you will ever come to the small hilltop village of Thines. Quite simply, it is in the middle of nowhere. But,…

Read more

There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met Attrib to William Butler Yeats I couldn’t set off much before 10am as the chap I was due to return the gite keys to had a doctor’s appointment early in the morning so the owner of the gite, who lived in Belgium, informed me…

Read more

American guest: ‘Is there anywhere they do French food?’ Basil: ‘Yes, France, I believe. They seem to like it there. And the swim would certainly sharpen your appetite. You’d better hurry, the tide leaves in six minutes.’ Basil Fawlty – Fawlty Towers I don’t want to be too critical of the Hotel des Sites in…

Read more

Bard Bracy! bard Bracy! your horses are fleet, Ye must ride up the hall, your music so sweet, More loud than your horses’ echoing feet! And loud and loud to Lord Roland call, ‘Thy daughter is safe in Langdale hall!’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Christabel Ok I have a guilty admission which makes me feel…

Read more

The word tonto is used in Spanish for ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’, but one of its suggested origins was it’s use by Apache Indians as a term for the Western Apaches – meaning ‘wild ones’. For the last five years, since I started my first long walk across France on the Via Francigena in August 2022 and…

Read more

God made only water, but man made wine. Victor Hugo It proved a long day – 10 hours of walking with the temperature in the low 30s during the afternoon. Thankfully the terrain wasn’t too arduous with most of the day spent walking through vineyards. I am traversing the heart of Côtes du Rhône country.…

Read more

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. William Shakespeare – All’s Well that End’s Well Act 4 Scene 3 The day had started off in a slightly bizarre fashion. I was up early in anticipation of an arduous 28km walk to Vaison-la-Romaine. As I headed out of Le…

Read more

I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.’I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! J.R.R.Tolkien – The Hobbit I made it…

Read more