After a sparse breakfast we were off – not long after eight o’clock. The small evergreen trees sitting in tubs on either side of the door to the Hotel de Ponant had blown over; it was still very blustery. The boulangerie around the corner showed no signs of life despite the notice in the window stating it would open at eight on Saturdays. Pradelles was dark and foreboding under a leaden sky – an easy place to leave behind.

As on the previous day, the walk started downhill on an earthen track, and so despite the gusts of wind, the going was pretty easy for the first six kilometres or so. This brought us to Langogne and our first impressions were that it was a serious settlement as we passed a railway station and a Carrefour supermarket on the way in. Its high street provided a boulangerie in which we acquired a takeaway lunch and a café for a mid-morning brew. The centre of town is an old enclave including a covered market and a sizeable church: St. Gervais and St. Protais, which dates back to the eleventh century.

We left Langogne via a bridge over the river Langourou and climbed through its peripheral bits. But as with the very best of towns, the buildings soon gave way to open country. We headed south initially veering south-west through woodland and over meadow, crossed the Langourou for a second time before climbing to an odd building sitting on its own. Whoever lived here had adorned the house and its plot with a hodgepodge of road and rail paraphernalia – fascinating; ugly!

Climbing further, we reached the village of Saint-Flour-de-Mercoire. At its centre, the communal wash house (lavaderie) would have been the perfect place for lunch – covered and sheltered from the blustery wind. But it had already been claimed by three hikers – it’s amazingly popular this craze for following in the footsteps of RL Stevenson! But no matter, there was the hamlet of Herm but a few hundred metres further on. The little café/bar was closed, but just opposite was an unoccupied holiday chalet. Its veranda provided some shelter and so we perched on its edge to munch on our pizzas from Langogne.

Back on our legs, we followed a line of three hamlets: Sagne Rousse, Fouzillac, and Fouzillic, all of which feature in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. Stevenson became hopelessly lost in the area; bad weather and the coming of night meant that he had to camp out in the open. Happily, we had excellent waymarking and a well worn path to follow. We trundled downhill through woodland, which provided some respite from the buffeting wind, to the village of Cheylard-l’Évêque.

The sun shone as we arrived and we also received a warm welcome at Refuge de Moure. As we entered the establishment, we were encouraged to divest ourselves of our walking boots, outer garments and walking poles which were all neatly stored in the vestibule. We were expected to order our packed lunches for the morrow. And we’re given details of the evening’s meal. Great organisation! Our room was on the small side, but that was of little consequence as the bar/dining room also functioned as a common room.

After a beer, I couldn’t resist walking up to the chapel which sits atop the hill to the south-west of the village. The walk was steep but not very long; every few metres there was a station of the cross etched into a recess by the side of the path. At the top of the hill, the incongruous chapel stands alone. In mediaeval days, the village will have likewise been on the top of the hill – safer in those war-torn days to live above any potential marauders! But this chapel was built in 1805, when the village had long since moved down to sit by the river! It’s a bit of a mystery – it is undoubtedly dramatic, beautiful and endearingly bananas!

And down at the Refuge, the evening meal was equally dramatic! The stopover arrangements for this holiday are, by and large, half board – that is B&B with an evening meal thrown in, but with precious little choice for the latter. But the Refuge de Maure did us proud – salad with chèvre chaud, fish with tomatoes and courgettes, an amazing board of local cheeses, and fromage blanc with crème de marron. Yummy!