Our selection of 4 stories to travel to the ends of the earth

In the East, something new

Alone on foot towards Jerusalem
by Aliénor Vidal de la Blache
Ed. Salvator, 230 p., €18.50.
Leave everything, leave the capital for more than six months and venture on the road to Jerusalem via Italy, Slovenia, Albania, Greece… And all on foot. The author of this sensitive and poetic travel diary puts into words what a pilgrimage is for her. The walker is “on the way to a trace, an imprint of the divine on earth; a reminder, a sign that something greater than him exists”. A flamboyant sunset, a gentle air, moving encounters, trials too, which lead to discouragement. But always this heady thirst for discoveries and intense emotions. The spiritual quest is not approached with great lyrical flights, but with simplicity and modesty. Aliénor says she has “the faith of the coalman” and it shows. A beautiful story in the form of an invitation to travel.

Romain Mazenod
Our opinion: PP