Maggiore is backed by the alps which we immediately turned towards, and in due course entered a river gorge which would wind its way to the Simplon Pass and across in to Switzerland. The rock here appears to be mainly granitic or possibly dolomite or some hard limestone derivative, but anyway rather than crumbling into scree slopes it produces steep even vertical faces and is a lighter coloured rock. The gorge was spectacular with its high walls and as we wound up the road gaining hight the views opened more to show the alps around us. All the way up the buildings became more and more Swiss like, with their wooden hamlets, steep roofs, decorative embellishments and baskets of flowers hanging outside the windows. The forest was interesting, it started with broadleaf lowland forest including oaks and birches, then transitioned to pure pine forest ('have these all been planted?' asked someone.) (No.) Then larch higher up, often pure stands of it and then much higher, alpine meadows. Towards the top of the tree line maybe in the 4-6'000ft band (??) we started noticing green meadows amongst the high forests. These are summer grazing sites, each with a small hamlet and a few cows dotted around, each wearing a sizeable bell on account of no fencing. Apparently the small holders retire their cows indoors for winter then walk them ups to their high summer grazing. On the top of the pass at about 6,500ft there were nearby cows and the sound of the clonking of their bells was captivating. Very small scale almost domestic scale farming, but so charming. I could imagine myself spending a summer in a high hamlet, the occasional check that the cows are ok, brewing coffee on the wood fired stove, wandering the tops.
Down the other side of the saddle with the vegetation sequence in reverse, then a drive through the very very intensively populated and managed valley floors. That was how it was throughout the Swizzled drive, tight valley floors and mountainous on both sides.
We stopped for lunch in a town where an art exhibition was in progress; Rodin the sculptor. As it happens it was also a roman town and had been mapped, scanned and dug in great detail, with a museum housing the incredible artefact collection. Outdoors was a small but decent Roman amphitheatre, parts of the roman town partly exposed and a section of original roman road with large paving stones. These roman sites seem to go throughout Italy, France and Spain plus anywhere else in the roman empire, although Italy is king for the sheer visibility of its roman heritage, often overlaid with an equally visible medieval heritage.
Our drive, a longish day by the time it was over, took us to lake Geneva which has both a Swiss and a French side. We headed to our small town Yvoire, on the french side. These borders are culturally blurred, as if there is a multicultural district either side of the border, rather than a sharp 'snap' between what is one country or the other. The borders themselves you usually miss, there is no stopping required and often just a modest sign.
Yvoire has an outstanding medieval walled centre, which our hotel was beside. We enjoyed wandering inn and out of the centre, but also visited Geneva and a trip highlight - Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc.
Meanwhile on the first night we had the hilarious experience of eating a fondue for dinner. It was a legend in NZ in the 70's or so, but here its a tradition. A large pot of bubbling hot cheese and white wine, and very good cheese at that. Bread and forks for dipping, more white wine to wash it all down. They don't mess around here with cheese, they eat it constantly (although generally not in quantity, that's more our forte) and the variety is incredible. This is also the home of the hard cheese Compte, one off the greats. We could not resist buying a bit in the market and bringing it back to the hotel.
While the lake is France/Switzerland, the city itself I believe is all Swiss, and being a non aligned nation, not in the Eurozone or nato etc it is home to many international agencies. Lots of flags and people of all races all striding around, on the phone, or in limos etc. United Nations headquarters etc etc. One little plus for me was to visit a good cigar shop, Geneva being a good source of genuine havanas and the place I have mostly bought them from, on line.
The city has a lake frontage, beautifully clean water and in the distance a wonderful view of Mont Blanc. I previously presumed it was just an undistinguished lump, but no it's a stunner, with several high peaks and soaring ridges. A day later we drove into Chamonix, the ski resort at its base. The drive in takes you past soaring cliffs that reminded me of Yosemite (not that Ive been there) and then higher mountains, ice snow and glaciers. At Chamonix itself we took two cable cars to about 7,500ft, to look across onto the Mont Blanc massif. What an absolute thrill to look across a single valley, onto this great mountain. The cable car network and generally facilities are staggering. There would have been scores even hundred of people using the cable carts to get them and their paragliders up onto the high ridges, where they then dotted the sky with bright spots of colour. We also saw a dozen or so climbers on the steep granite faces adjacent to the cable cars, along with many mountain bikers and walkers. But ultimately the mountains did all the talking and we just felt so happy to be there, at a reasonable altitude and surrounded by these great alps.
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