Wednesday 13 July. 2016
What a day, we left Italy, drove into Switzerland , into and out of France, back into Switzerland and then into France again!
From Italy we drove through the Simplon pass and the Gondor Gorge into southern Switzerland. The gorge was incredible, sheer granite walls and the road winding up and up slowly.
The pass started as a smugglers mule trail to bring salt from the Mediterranean to Switzerland back in the 17th. Century. Later Napoleon wanted a road to bring cannon and artillery over the pass and the trail was made into a road. The road winds up to over 2000mtrs and some of the mountain peaks are over 4000 mtrs. In winter it is covered in snow and there is now also a rail tunnel (19k's long) that you can put your car on if the pass is snowed over.
The little traditional stone houses must be freezing in winter but we did notice the masses of firewood stacked up alongside many of the shelters. The area was in full flush of spring, it looked gorgeous and there were many hikers making the most of the trails.
At the summit is an old Hospice of Benedictine monks, Hospice du Simplon, completed in 1831 by the Great Saint Bernard canons. In the picture it looks tiny so it gives you a sense of how enormous the mounains are. Napoleon instructed the hospice be built to serve as a haven in the winter and also to serve as a troops barracks. I think it may have an hotel function now as well as still operating as a working monastery.
We drove over the Gantor Bridge, second highest in Switzerland....don't look down! This bridge is at 2005mtrs.
Then into little villages along the way, one selling wind charm's and another specialising in old motorbikes, using the motorbikes as cafe tables!
We passed wine terraces in southern Switzerland at the foot of the mountains.
We drove through Evian, where the world speed boat champs were on, then on through Geneva where we passed the centre for European Nuclear research (CERN), the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, home to the Hadron Collider experiments.
The sculpture of the day comes from CERN lawns, designed by Gayle Hermick, called Jet d'Eau it represents all the scientific discoveries over time and embedded in the steel ribbon are formulae, scientists names and discoveries, quite stunning.
What a day, we left Italy, drove into Switzerland , into and out of France, back into Switzerland and then into France again!
From Italy we drove through the Simplon pass and the Gondor Gorge into southern Switzerland. The gorge was incredible, sheer granite walls and the road winding up and up slowly.
The pass started as a smugglers mule trail to bring salt from the Mediterranean to Switzerland back in the 17th. Century. Later Napoleon wanted a road to bring cannon and artillery over the pass and the trail was made into a road. The road winds up to over 2000mtrs and some of the mountain peaks are over 4000 mtrs. In winter it is covered in snow and there is now also a rail tunnel (19k's long) that you can put your car on if the pass is snowed over.
The little traditional stone houses must be freezing in winter but we did notice the masses of firewood stacked up alongside many of the shelters. The area was in full flush of spring, it looked gorgeous and there were many hikers making the most of the trails.
At the summit is an old Hospice of Benedictine monks, Hospice du Simplon, completed in 1831 by the Great Saint Bernard canons. In the picture it looks tiny so it gives you a sense of how enormous the mounains are. Napoleon instructed the hospice be built to serve as a haven in the winter and also to serve as a troops barracks. I think it may have an hotel function now as well as still operating as a working monastery.
We drove over the Gantor Bridge, second highest in Switzerland....don't look down! This bridge is at 2005mtrs.
Then into little villages along the way, one selling wind charm's and another specialising in old motorbikes, using the motorbikes as cafe tables!
We passed wine terraces in southern Switzerland at the foot of the mountains.
We drove through Evian, where the world speed boat champs were on, then on through Geneva where we passed the centre for European Nuclear research (CERN), the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, home to the Hadron Collider experiments.
No comments:
Post a Comment