11 km hike in La Bastide-Puylaurent

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Distance: 11 km, Maximum altitude: 1313 m, Minimum altitude: 1021 m, Total elevation gain: 202 m
IGN Maps: La Bastide-Puylaurent (2738E). Largentiere la Bastide-Puylaurent Vivarais Cevenol (2838OT).

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Chasseradès is first mentioned in a 12th century document. It was then an important commercial and religious center. In the 16th century, the village was affected by the Wars of Religion. The village was burned and pillaged by the Protestants. It was rebuilt during the 17th century. On September 27, 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson shared a room at the old inn located in the center of Chasseradès. He met the people responsible for the surveys for the construction of the viaduct, but the line was not opened until 24 years later. This line is one of the most picturesque in France, serving places from which one can go in search of menhirs, dolmens, cup-shaped rocks, montjoies, ancestral paths used since Antiquity by crusaders, transhumants, muleteers... and hikers. The muleteers came up from the south with wine, olive oil and salt to exchange them for straw, fodder, cheese, salted meat, cereals and legumes such as lentils, wheat, rye, barley etc. "At the end of an hour, I saw the village, perched on a rock, above a bend of the Chassezac. I arrived at the bridge, and stopped to contemplate the landscape. The village was surrounded by mountains and forests. The houses were made of stone and wood. In the distance, I could see the snow-capped peaks of Mont Lozère. I crossed the bridge and headed towards the village. The inhabitants were curious to see this Scotsman accompanied by a donkey. They stopped me in the street to ask me questions. I felt like a celebrity. I found an inn and settled in. I asked the landlady if she knew of a place where I could leave Modestine. She told me that there was a meadow near the river. I gave her Modestine's lead, and I let her graze. I walked around the village. I saw the church, the town hall and the market square. I met locals who invited me to have a glass of wine. I spent a pleasant evening in Chasseradès."

The Stevenson Trail, inspired by the journey of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, crosses the Cévennes from Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-du-Gard. This trail, also known as the GR®70, is a mid-mountain hiking route (average altitude of 1000 m) that takes walkers through varied landscapes, from the volcanic plateaus of Velay, through Gévaudan, to the mountains of Mont Lozère and the valleys of the Cévennes, rich in biodiversity. The trail starts at Monastier-sur-Gazeille in Haute-Loire. In four stages, it leads to La Bastide-Puylaurent, via Langogne and Le Cheylard-l’Évêque, then joins Lozère, following wooded and hilly paths. The route passes through emblematic sites such as Mont Lozère and Col de Finiels, offering wide panoramas of the Cévennes and the lower Languedoc. The diversity of landscapes and cultures is the charm of the GR®70, linking the Catholic lands of Haute-Loire and Lozère to the Protestant lands of Ardèche and Gard. Historic villages and inns mark Stevenson's passage, in particular the Cévennes, land of the Camisards and symbol of Protestant resistance, with its chestnut groves, remote valleys and numerous natural and cultural remains.

Robert Louis Stevenson, a renowned author known for Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, nourished a quest throughout his life combining literature and real life. He aspired to a life free from Victorian conventions, addressing in his essays themes such as morality, religion and human relationships. Faced with a hypocritical and restrictive society, he explores new values ​​in opposition to his time, seeking to live without attachment or constraint. His work and his travels reveal this desire to escape the constraints of society to embrace a nomadic and adventurous existence. Stevenson valued the discovery of the world, raw experiences and meeting others, in contrast to the coldness of the British of the time. At the heart of his writings, he questions the dark aspects of the human soul, anticipating the concept of the unconscious. In his letters and writings, particularly from his exile in Samoa, he describes a lifestyle harmonized with nature, emphasizing his fight against the surrounding forest and his taste for manual work, in contrast to his literary aspirations. He expresses an ideal of happiness accessible through simple values: the pleasure of small things, indulgence towards oneself, and an openness to the world through travel, whether physical or literary. Stevenson thus embodies a figure of the writer-traveler and the inspired moralist, marked by a life of adventure, constant travel and a deep reflection on the art of living and feeling.