Eric Poindron in La Bastide-Puylaurent on the GR70
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Eric Poindron in La Bastide-Puylaurent on the GR70 |
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Are you eating with us? The trout was caught this afternoon and the soup is homemade. Plus, I offer the aperitif... It's the owner of L'Etoile Maison d'hôtes in La Bastide-Puylaurent - one thousand twenty-four meters - a friendly giant about thirty-five years old who makes the invitation before showing the room. Two beds, a sink, and an old bistro table with a wooden top for evening writings. View over the Allier. The donkey has made her own. She will sleep in a barn, at the foot of the river, near an old bridge. She seems to appreciate the place. Here even the ducks look like they're on vacation.
Have you come from far away? - After Saint-Flour-de-Mercoire, we followed the river as closely as possible, avoiding Fouzillic and Fouzillac due to the weather and Cheylard-l'Évêque to arrive before evening. At Luc, it was straight ahead, or almost. We wanted to climb to the trap of the abbey Notre Dame des Neiges, but with the donkey it was complicated... No regrets. According to our host, we made the right choice. It's high and still far, despite the clear night, we would have gotten lost. You have to know, it's wild up there. And then the inn is only open to retreaters.
Belgian beer for everyone? And away we go, Belgian beer for everyone. We are settled in front of the fire in the large room that serves both for meals and relaxation when two new hikers drop their bags: Raoul, a Stéphanian, and Graeme, an Englishman from Bristol. Finally arriving is Billy, the ginger labrador from the gîte. Outside the cities, there's no need for long introductions. We don't display colors, we don't raise any flag. The backpacks are enough for complicity.
The owner returns with arms full of dried fruits. The tongues are loosening. After hiking, a guy who dines with you becomes your friend. Questions of journey. The only one who explains is the owner of the gîte: - My name is Philippe Papadimitriou, I am half Belgian, half Greek and the rest of the time Lozérien. Before settling in La Bastide-Puylaurent, attaching himself to Lozère, he wandered around Australia, searched for gold in California, and crossed France on horseback. That's how he discovered Lozère and fell in love with the place. Two horses, his girlfriend with a horse, and two dogs. He settled down and, six months later, he started the gîte.
I love it, I feel like I have a boat. Since then, I’ve been putting in a push. Life is precious. Then he tells the little history of his house, once a family boarding house as it should be, the hotel Ranc. Monsieur used to take his wife and children to get some fresh air and hurried off to meet his mistress on the Riviera. Philippe seeks to preserve the family boarding house aspect, even for one night. "When you leave my place, you should have only one desire, to return as soon as possible."
He spares no effort to increase his loyal clientele: impeccable food, spacious rooms, unique atmosphere. Not to mention the dry humor and a great aptitude for happiness. Philippe has the sacred fire, he refuses to give up, "even if this country is not his, precisely because this country is not his." He curses the labor force that seeks to win Le Puy-en-Velay, Saint-Étienne, or the South. What will they do more in Montpellier? But he blames no one, he knows that twenty-five years in Lozère can give desires for elsewhere and a definitive escape. He enjoys himself here.
The soup smells like the garden, the flesh of the trout is firm and the homemade crepes are served without restriction. The little stylish wine from Notre-Dame-des-Neiges accompanies the whole. Fruit wine and communion wine, everything goes down the same tube. If Stevenson had known the guesthouse L'Etoile, there’s no doubt he would have stayed. At the table, everyone shares their anecdotes, their disordered impressions of the places they have crossed. Raoul the Stéphanian recounts his exploits. He went to Corsica this summer. Graeme, the slender Englishman, specialist in German romanticism and Sturm und Drang, moderates the importance of Stevenson on English soil. As if in regret. - Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes, for us, it's a children's book, a dictation book. A charming text to learn spelling. Then he displays his manual, a little red book, illustrated and dog-eared, which accompanies him during his hike. - When I talked about my trip to my friends, they were astonished. In our country, Stevenson is a storyteller of beautiful stories, a popular writer...
A French teacher for several years in Languedoc, it’s in France that Graeme discovered the Journey. He does not regret the hike and wants to finish without delay because for him, in Saint-Jean-du-Gard, it’s the end of the holidays. He has to return to England in a few days. He raises his glass to French encounters.
Philippe takes the opportunity to bring coffee, pear brandy, and Belgian cinnamon cookies. He sets down the tray and grabs his guitar... "I traveled the world and California, I put my hands in the mud to find gold, I’m a gold seeker." Singing Dylan, Neil Young, Eagles, and his own repertoire - of which he has no reason to be ashamed - he continues his story of a modern cowboy.
A log in the hearth and the folk ambiance settles in. This boots are made for walking... Raoul takes the opportunity to monitor his emerging blisters. Coffee, beer, and Leonard Cohen. The songs warm you up. After the beautiful star, the beautiful gîte of L'Etoile. When Graeme the Englishman asks the Belgo-Greek if he has read "Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes", the other smiles: - I’ve read two books in my life. My library is my head. On the road at fourteen. Working on farms, sleeping in barns and then America. There they are, my books.
Monks in the mountains. And I gave thanks to God for being free to wander, free to hope, free to love...
Excerpt from "Beautiful Stars" With Stevenson in the Cevennes, Gulliver collection, directed by Michel Le Bris, Flammarion.
Former holiday hotel with a garden along the Allier, L'Etoile Guest House is located in La Bastide-Puylaurent between Lozere, Ardeche, and the Cevennes in the mountains of Southern France. At the crossroads of GR®7, GR®70 Stevenson Path, GR®72, GR®700 Regordane Way, GR®470 Allier River springs and gorges, GRP® Cevenol, Ardechoise Mountains, Margeride. Numerous loop trails for hiking and one-day biking excursions. Ideal for a relaxing and hiking getaway.
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