Donkey-Trekking
 

Has anyone gone donkey-trekking in France? I'm thinking of taking my granddaughter on a self-guided donkey-trek on a portion of the Chemins du Roman (Brionnais loop) in Southern Burgundy.

Have you ever spent any time with donkeys? Not something I would consider a vacation.

But some people do enjoy it, so it's a holiday to them. I've heard of people doing this on the Camino de Santiago.

Following up on the last post (and unrelated to the OP), a funny read is Tim Moore's "Travels with My Donkey : One Man and His Ass on a Pilgrimage to Santiago". Very amusing. For some reason just looking at the funny photo of the donkey on the cover always makes me laugh.

A great read is "Last of the Donkey Pilgrims" by Kevin O'Hara. Kevin made a trip around Ireland with his donkey.

Last September, my husband and I drove a small, rented houseboat on the Lot River from Douelle to Cregols and back where we had to operate all the locks ourselves. Only one lock was electric; the others had to be operated manually. A lot of people wouldn't consider that a vacation either, but we had a wonderful time. My sister loves to luxuriate on big cruise ships. I think that would bore me. To each her own!

My granddaughter (age 8) has some farm experience with a donkey, and a donkey-trek will keep the trip interesting for her if she gets tired of the Romanesque churches on our chosen route. She and I (and my husband, should he decide to accompany us) must feed and groom the donkey each day. The outfitter will prearrange accommodations for us (and the donkey) for each night of our trek. The donkey will carry a pack of up to 40 kilos for us. (The donkey is not for riding. In France, only small children ride donkeys.)

When Robert Louis Stevenson was a young writer, he tried his hand at travel writing and wrote TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY IN THE CEVENNES. I haven't read it yet; I have it on hold at the library.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's actually tried donkey-trekking.

Never done it in France, but did in one trip through the Cévennes a few years ago see countless places where they were advertising donkey rides à la Robert Louis Stevenson...you could rent donkeys and follow the paths he followed.

Having done donkey riding in Greece in my youth all I can say is I would not relish a ride through the Cévennes on a donkey, or anywhere else. Even back then when I was fit as a fiddle I suffered greatly after a day on a donkey. It's bad enough on a horse if you're not used to riding. Donkeys are smaller, meaner, and harder to manage, and your body will not like being on one for more than a half-hour or so.

Hi StCirq,

You have made excellent suggestions to me in the past regarding restaurants, trains, etc., in France. Many thanks!

On this trip, the donkey would be for carrying our belongings only, not for riding.

I've seen it done in the Dordogne. Every so often some trekkers or day trippers land on the main square of the hamlet where we stay. But I do not know where they get their donkeys.

GrannyPitt, what a great idea. I hope you do it and post a trip report. Your post made me go looking at donkeys via google and I think I have fallen in love with them. Too bad one would not be happy in my little garden in the inner city. I get the impression that the donkey will tell you the correct way to walk on your tour. This site was very interesting

http://www.ane-et-rando.com/Sommaire/Summary.html

It's not the trekking I'm referring to - if you were walking or biking or doing it on horseback I would say go right ahead.

Now - I am an animal lover to the max. But in my experience donkeys are the most miserable, stubborn, unco-operative beasts in creation - giving to biting, kicking and generally causing as much trouble as necessary to force people to leave them alone.

Perhaps this is a different breed of donkey - perfectly trained for these trips. I certainly hope so - and that you have some experience dealing with animals of this type.