GEORGE NEWS - A Parisian musician and university lecturer in engineering, Christophe Touchard, passed through George last week on a solo journey from Europe through Africa.
Touchard has been travelling along the east coast of the continent, using trains as far as possible, his viola his only companion. From South Africa he is going to Namibia, where his tour ends.
Touchard enjoyed a trip on the Powervan and had the chance to play his viola at the scenic lookout point in the Outeniqua Mountains where the passengers always enjoy their picnics.
He also did a five-day hike in the Tsitsikamma while in the Garden Route.
A painful relationship break-up brought Touchard, an award-winning violinist and engineer, to a crossroads in his life a few years ago, and it was then that he began to travel and also emerged as a travel writer. He undertook a year-long journey from 2018 to 2019 that took him to almost all the continents.
"It was a journey of self-discovery and it gave me a taste for discovering the world and its people.
"I meet musicians and others who, through music, help others."
That journey inspired his first travel book, Un alto pour passeport ("A viola as passport"), in which he shares how his outlook on life.
Among his encounters in South America was an introduction to the El Sistema social music programme, which provides free classical music education to children from disadvantaged communities. This has inspired him to use his classical music training whenever the opportunity presents itself on his travels. His ever-present viola is a real conversation starter.
Christophe Touchard on his first tour.
His world tour changed his life direction. Upon returning home, he quit his engineering job and found his way to a new career as a lecturer, while also performing, especially to children's audiences. He undertook another journey from France to Armenia in 2022, and authored his second travel book, which is to be published in 2026. He plans to also write a book about his trip in Africa.
Through these books he wants to enrich others' lives "with values of sharing and tolerance, while I take them on a journey".
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