How to Travel Like Michel de Montaigne
Lessons from a 16th century philosopher’s gap year
In 1571, the French nobleman Michel de Montaigne sold his seat at the Bordeaux parliament, retired from public service and sequestered himself in a circular tower in his family castle, Château de Montaigne. He was 38.
For the next 10 years he occupied this tower on the estate which had a chapel, a bedroom, a study and a library, separated between 3 levels. Montaigne self-isolated here and spent his days reading, meditating and writing. He was living according to his belief that: “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
It was here that Montaigne wrote his Magnum Opus: The Essays, a groundbreaking work that influenced the likes of Shakespeare and Ralph Waldo Emerson among others. It consists of 3 books, composed over a span of 20 years and charting his thoughts, feelings and interests. As Montaigne stated: “I am myself the matter of my book”. The essays mixed personal reflection, anecdotes and philosophical musing, and are defined by constant digressions and a dizzyingly unsystematic approach to writing. Whilst some saw this as a detriment, the book was a sensation, and became a best-seller in its day.
Nine years after his retreat from public life, and disaffected by his homeland where the Wars of Religion (1562–1598) were raging, Montaigne embarked on a European tour from France, through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and ending in Rome. The trip was partly for pleasure, and partly for health reasons; he suffered with kidney stones and sought relief by “Taking the waters” at various European spas. It lasted seventeen months– Montaigne was called home prematurely after being elected Mayor of Bordeaux.
The travel logs documenting this journey were only discovered and published in the 18th century.
The journal isn't quite like the travelogues one might encounter today; it contains frequent notes on how the water’s effect Montaigne’s stones, and if you decide to read them yourself, expect no small amount of passages like these:
“That day Monsieur de Montaigne passed two stones and a lot of gravel”.
Gross.
The first part of the journal is written by an unidentified secretary, hence the third person observation above, whilst the second part is written by Montaigne himself. Thankfully, the journal doesn't just read like a patient document, but also notes the people the entourage encountered, the stories they heard along the way and the various customs they witnessed and engaged in.
Using this journal, I have extracted a few guiding principles for how to travel like Montaigne, all of which can help us to get the most out of travel. Without further ado, lets dive in:
Steer away from the beaten path
“And as for Rome, which was the goal of the others, he desired less to see it than the other places, since it was known to every man, and there was not a lackey who could not tell them news of Florence and Ferrara.”
Montaigne repeatedly shows a disdain for the well trodden path and bustling tourist spots, instead being drawn to unseen treasures and obscure local people who could relay local stories and legends.
We would all do well to not follow the crowd or flock to spots that have been so popularised they are spoiled. Every now and then, it pays to go off the beaten path and to explore undiscovered wonders.
Next time you’re on holiday, instead of going to service desks and taking handfuls of leaflets selling local attractions or bus tours, go for a walk, travel the untaken road and steer away from the queues of tourists lining up for a “must-have” photo.
Don’t walk the same road twice
“Monsieur de Montaigne strenuously avoided passing over the same road twice.”
Montaigne was hungry to see new places and meet new people and as such, felt that walking the same road twice was wasting precious time that could have been spent discovering new wonders. In response to those complaining that he led his entourage in circles following different paths, Montaigne is attributed as replying so:
“He had no plan but to travel in unknown places; and that provided he did not fall back upon the same route or see the same place twice, he was not failing to carry out his plan.”
Montaigne would have little time for those who book the same holiday year in, year out, or for those who find a nice restaurant on a week trip and eat there every night. Instead, Montaigne dragged his entourage with him in pursuit of untaken roads and unseen sights.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
Wherever he went, Montaigne observed the rituals and habits of the locals, and greedily sought discussion with those who lived and thought differently from himself. Montaigne embodied cosmopolitanism, and yearned for anything and everything alien to himself. In this spirit, he imitated and imbibed the customs of the places he visited :
“Monsieur de Montaigne, to essay completely the diversity of manners and customs, let himself be served everywhere in the mode of each country, no matter what difficulty this caused him”.
Montaigne observed this diligently, although on one occasion he did draw attention to himself by using a handkerchief to blow his nose, much to his dismay. Continuing, Montaigne blushed at those of his countrymen who would travel in a cocoon of home comforts, shielding themselves from anything foreign and seeking their countrymen. Observing them from his table he writes:
“Once out of their villages, they feel like fish out of water. Wherever they go they cling to their ways and curse foreign ones… With a morose and taciturn prudence they travel about wrapped up in their cloaks and protecting themselves from the contagion of an unknown clime”.
Today this is just as common, and we all know someone who’s holiday revolves around recreating home in a different climate. Montaigne had little love for the Karl Pilkington’s of the world, and made a concerted effort to shed his national prejudice and live as the locals did. We would all do well to imitate the great Essayist, and lower, not lift, our guards when we enter a new and rich culture.
Talk to the locals
“He was so eager on all occasions to talk to strangers, that I think this took his mind off his ailment.”
Montaigne didn’t see travel as an act of box ticking landmarks and taking in sights, and a common theme throughout the travel journals is his desire to speak to people at all levels of society. Speaking to people from other cultures allowed Montaigne to examine his own habits, customs and religious practice objectively. The travel journal references some colourful characters and scandalous tales; in the small French town of Vitry-le-François alone, his secretary writes that “we learned three memorable stories’’.
The first was that a woman of eighty-seven resided locally, and was still active. Another was about seven or eight girls who had plotted to dress up as men and continue their life. He reports that one of them “fell in love with a woman, whom he married and with whom he lived for four or five months, to her satisfaction, so they say.” As usual, Montaigne doesn't pass judgement.
Lastly. the journal recounts a story they heard from the local girls of a man who lived as a woman, unbeknownst to anyone in the town, until the age of twenty-two. The poor woman made an effort to jump and “her virile instruments” came out in front of an understandably shocked audience. The secretary notes that the event was still referenced in song by girls in the town, in which they warned each-other not to open their legs too wide for fear of becoming male.
All of this goes to show that for Montaigne, half the pleasure of travel was meeting new people and encountering different perspectives.
Judge for yourself
Montaigne took little stock of other people’s judgments regarding foreign cultures, and preferred to weigh them up himself; on examination, he often found that he liked foreign customs equally, if not more so, than his own native ones:
“Monsieur De Montaigne said that all his life he had distrusted other people’s judgment on the matter of the conveniences of foreign countries, since every mans taste is governed by the ordering of his habit and the usage of his village; and he had taken very little account of the information that travellers gave him”.
Montaigne realised that when his countrymen criticised foreign customs and resources, what they really meant was that it was different to their own, which presupposed that their way is better.
It was characteristic of Montaigne to think independently and to challenge his own ingrained habits, so it should come as no surprise that he believed the traveller should approach alien innovations and practices without bias.
A final word
Time limits me from fully exploring Montaigne here- besides, he did it well enough himself in the Essays- but suffice to say he was a towering intellect who revolutionised literature and embodied cosmopolitanism in an era where that was a rarity. If you haven’t read him before, let this article be the catalyst for you to go and discover the man himself.
Lastly, seeing how much travel meant to Montaigne should inspire us all, with the benefit of modern technology, to get out of our native countries and embrace new cultures, and different- not inferior- ways of doing things.
