A Commentary on the Travel Writing of Pierre Jean Grosley and Ramond de Carbonnières

A Commentary on the Travel Writing of Pierre Jean Grosley and Ramond de Carbonnières

Each summer, for the past five years, I have traveled to Savary Island, B.C. to "repose my wearied spirit" on the mountains, the ocean, and especially on the absence of civilization and the regular amenities thereof. The island is divided: the western half submits to residents who wish for large homes and tennis courts while the eastern half (Indian Point) supports those who want to escape from those very things. There are only a handful of permanent residents on the eastern half and they have built their homes and gardens with a respect and reverence for nature that is rarely found in the city, or Savary Shores (the western half). The visitors to the island fit, generally, into the same western and eastern categories; all escaping the city, but only some willing to leave the city behind. It is a modern distinction between the tourist and the traveler. It is impossible to engage with nature without engaging with the people on Savary Island. I have found that encounters with both visitors and residents, negative or positive, have influenced my experience of nature and, in turn, knowledge of myself. Therefore, the effects of our Romantic Travelers' encounters with people (tourists, travelers or native residents) on their experience of nature have interested me greatly. Pierre Jean Grosley and Ramond de Carbonnières' travel writing provides two perspectives (the tourist and the traveler) of both nature and its human inhabitants. How each man engages with the people he meets mirrors the way he engages with his natural surroundings. My desire to blend in with the residents of Indian Point place my traveling experiences on par with de Carbonnières...

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...gages with nature beyond his initial scientific attempts. He accesses nature, and in turn increases his knowledge of self by engaging with the people he encounters, specifically the shepherds of the Pyrenees. I find I am able to relate my own experiences on Savary Island with both of these travelers, although more so with Ramond de Carbonnières.

Works Cited

de Carbonnières, Ramond. Travels in the Pyrenees; containing a description of the principal summits, passes, and vallies. Trans. F. Gold. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Browne, 1813. (Original work: Observations faites dans les Pyreneés, 1789)

Grosley, Pierre Jean. New Observations of Italy and its Inhabitants. Trans. Thomas Nugent. London: L.Davis and C. Reymers, 1769. Vol.1

Noyes, Russell. English Romantic Poetry and Prose. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956. Introduction, xxii.