TE Lawrence in france, 1908
In the summer holiday of 1908, between his first and second year at university, the young TE Lawrence decided to cycle for 2500 miles around France. It was a monumental undertaking, which lasted some 50 days, in which he visited more than 50 abbeys, cathedrals and medieval castles. He travelled alone, heading down the eastern side of France to Provence, reaching the Mediterranean to great excitement at a walled town called Aigues Mortes. Then, via Carcassonne he wound his way north through western France until he came to the Loire, before continuing to Dinard and St Malo.
He undertook the trip largely as research for his undergraduate thesis into medieval castles, taking photographs where there were no good post-cards to buy. By the end of the trip he was satisfied that he had collected all the material he needed… only for his subject to develop when a mentor of his suggested that he compare the castles of western Europe with the Crusader castles of the Middle East. In no time he was preparing a trip, and the following year, in his summer holiday of 1909, he made a 1000-mile walk through what is now Lebanon, Syria and Israel.
My 2020 Journey
For this Young Lawrence project I will be cycling TE Lawrence’s 1908 journey in 2020.