Okay - this is not going to be about Comte Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - the short bearded gentleman of the belle-époque, whose paintings and drawings of the dancers of the Moulin Rouge are widely celebrated.
This is about a walk through southern France (Le Trek), the final destination of which is the charming city of Toulouse.
Any similarity is entirely speculative, and anyway, I'm allowed some poetic licence! At this point in time I have no intention of growing a beard for the occasion, although I reserve the right to change my mind on that score, as the exigencies of the trail demand. (And I do like that walking stick!)
Now, in the interests of clarity, I am an experienced bushwalker from the Australian continent, a Queen's Scout (like an Eagle Scout for you Americans), a graduate of the Outward Bound School and a former member of the 14th Psych Corps of the Australian Army Reserve. So, I'm not a complete newby as regards the great outdoors. However, all of that was over 40 years ago. I'm now an old man, overweight, and with more imagination than stamina. So this is going to be 'interesting'... in the way the Chinese mean when they voice the curse: "May you live in interesting times." As in, may you never know a moment's peace.
So, there's no point beating around the bush.
- This is not going to be the same type of trek as the Pacific Crest Trail, or the Appalachian Trail - it will feature many more French bistros and brasseries than those epic journeys.
- Nor is it going to be as spiritually enlightened as the Chemin de St. Jacques (Chemin de Compostelle) - the pilgrimages of those who journey across both France and Spain towards Santiago de Compostella. The mattresses of the chambres d'hote and boutique hotels hold more appeal than sleeping in a dormitory of farting and snoring pilgrims.
- Nor indeed will it be as 'Bear Grills' as those who tread the Grande Randonnée of France, that vast network of well-maintained, nature-centric trails of the FFRP (Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre). My route will not so much avoid contact with civilisation, as make a bee-line straight for it.
- I'm not intending to send my luggage ahead of me by taxi, and walk a few kilometers each day with just a camera and a water bottle. I will carry my gear on my back, faithful, at least in that part, to my trekking origins. I reserve the right, however, to hitch a lift on a passing barge as I walk along a canal path, or to sleep in, or hop on a bus if my body tells me that's what I need to do. I'm in this for the sheer pleasure of the experience, and I'll define that in my own terms, thank you very much.
- I speak French moderately well, and I am very much looking forward to using it and improving it as I encounter people along the way. I enjoy French culture, which includes chatting with stall-holders in local markets, getting the local butcher to sharpen my pocket-knife as well as sipping a petit-café, lingering over a freshly-baked croissant, slipping a baguette down the pocket of my pack and enjoying local village cuisine at the end of an eventful day.
- So Le Trek, hopefully, will be about all of that. I'm hoping to walk between 15km and 25 km per day (around 10 to 15 miles per day), trekking from village to village along country tracks and backwoods trails. I'll start from the city of Arles, which is about 1 hour's drive west of Marseille, walk through the Camargue region and then pass through several cities and towns (Montpellier, Béziers, Narbonne, Carcassonne) en route to Toulouse. I hope to tread the paths of the Grand Randonnée and even the Chemin de St Jacques as much as I can - but I'll diverge as needed to indulge in my cultural pursuits.
- At this stage (27th May 2022), the journey has no fixed timeline. My fitness level, my endurance and my ability to avoid the temptation of indulgence have not yet been tested. It should take me somewhere in the order of 20 days - give or take - but we'll see. In time, this may need to become a more rigid schedule, if I find I need to make advance bookings. But I'm flexible on this and willing to take some risks. All will be revealed as we get closer to the start.
