Peace, universal love, respect for the natural world… Francis of Assisi, the “first environmentalist”, is the sort of saint whose teachings even the most ardent secularist couldn’t object to. His celebration of simplicity and rejection of material possessions also chime with today’s distaste for heedless consumerism.

Nearly 800 years after Francis died, husband and I – ardent secularists both – are following in (some of) his footsteps, through the western Apennines on a trail the Umbria tourist board is refurbishing and promoting – the Via di Francesco, a 550km route from Florence to Rome on paths the saint would have used.