Title page of 'Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes'. The novel, written by Stevenson in his twenties, details his journey through the region in South Central France — all the while accompanied by a temperamental donkey named Modestine. Stevenson had taken the journey in the preceding year: it spanned 12 days and 120 miles. The novel inspired travellers to come after him, and the route of his journey, the GR70 footpath, is now affectionately recognised as 'The Robert Louis Stevenson Trail'.