Travels with Aristotle

This morning as my walking companions and I were finishing our rural promenade, we happened upon an interesting sight.  A man, heavily laden with a backpack, and an almost equally laden donkey were trudging towards us along the path.

Having brought my camera with me this morning, I pulled it out for a few quick shots.  The donkey was not happy about having his picture taken and didn't want to pose quietly.

It seemed to me that I had seen this odd couple before and that sense was confirmed after we greeted the man.  We asked him where he had been and he responded that he and his travelling companion, "Aristote," (Aristotle)  had been touring through la Suisse romande (French-speaking Switzerland).  Their odyssey began in Geneva in May.  They were now returning to their point of departure.  They were pausing in our village so that the donkey could rest at the stable nearby, where the man would set up his campsite.   I remembered having seen them there last May.  We asked him what he had liked most in his tour.  He told us that the loveliest place they had seen was a lake high in the Alps that was literally "magical."

He himself had walked the route before, indeed several times.  But it was the first tour for Aristote.  When we exclaimed at the impressive amount that each seemed to be packing, he assured us that his pack was at least as heavy as the one that Aristote was carrying.

We left the two of them to continue to their destination and we continued to ours - a much shorter and easier route, to be sure.