TTF - Touching the sky

Tripping Through France - Chapter 7

The routes between the north and the south of France on the east side of the country often go through big chunks of various European mountain chains.  As you get down to the southern area, you hit the western edge of the Alps.  That means you can find yourself fairly elevated from sea level, which we did on this trip.

Heading for points on high

Not only does France contain the highest alpine peak (Mont Blanc, which connects with Italy, and which we've tunneled under a few times over the years), it also has the highest road in Europe, also alpine.  As we live at the southern edge of the Alps, this route was the shortest on our way home.

In the past, it was just a mule track going over the pass, which the army used extensively in the 1800s.  Between 1960-1964, a permanent road was built, finally linking the two valleys on either side of the mountain.

The Tour de France has taken this route four times between 1962-2008, providing the Tour's highest altitude record.

Whose turn to mow the lawn?

I have never lived in such a mountainous area before, certainly not in FL where the third highest point was supposedly Space Mountain at Disney World!

Even if you do or have in the past, there is still something rather exotic being in such close proximity to any section of the famous Alps, especially when it's simply taking the road home.  So I thought I'd share what this particular road with the highest elevation on the continent can look like.

Residing on a natural Slip'N Slide

We had fairly reasonable weather on the north side, so it was possible to see the views fairly well.  It wasn't sunny, though, and my sad camera doesn't like playing nice with anything that resembles dusk, but I did manage to get a few decent pictures to share with you.

A local inhabitant

One kind of common wildlife in the area is the marmot.  They are a giant ground squirrel found in both American and European mountain ranges, as well as in other areas of the world.  A groundhog is actually a species of marmot.  I was tickled that I managed to capture one of them.

A rock love story?

Another fun thing we happened to come across was some love story written in rock.  I think there was probably some wedding celebration that took place at the summit, and some passionate excited friends or family did a lot of nature decorating. 

We found several examples, and sometimes there were marks in the road so the rock work wouldn't be missed.

By the time we got to the highest point, around 9,000 feet/2,800 meters, we were not only on the top of the world, we were also apparently at the end of it.

On a clear day, you can see forever

Somebody else did see forever

I found somebody else's picture from the exact same spot to show you what we should have been able to observe.

We have always found this shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Most High kind of fun.  It turns out that there's a not-so-fun history behind it.

Notre-Dame du Très-Haut

In June, 1940, the Italian army decided to invade France, with one point of entry being in this area.  The French army ordered the evacuation of several villages, fearing they would be harmed by the expected battle.  The conflict actually only lasted about four days, ending with the Italians down in the river waving white flags.  When the evacuation was over, having lasted only two weeks, the inhabitants were surprised to discover that they actually still had their homes, although a few were damaged and looted.

Pilgrimage 2014

Being good Catholics, they had prayed to the Virgin to protect them.  When it appeared that she did, they built this shrine in 1963 and established the "highest pilgrimage in Europe," held every year the last weekend in July.  So it turns out that the event this year was just the day after we passed through, with about 300 participants.  It looks like the weather hadn't improved much overnight.   

I wonder how often the occupants of this place feel like they are at the end of the world.

Watch that first step out the front door!

I thought you might enjoy the level of personal responsibility one is expected to have on these roads.  There's not even a single tree at this height to replace the missing guardrails if one should venture a wee bit too close to the edge of the pavement.

Texting drivers, beware!

As we headed back down on the south side, we could see see the road we would eventually be taking.  It was fun meeting some Canadian guys who basically came over just to skateboard down these roads.  Unfortunately, my only picture didn't turn out, and we were going the opposite direction.  Meanwhile, it was rather fascinating to watch the storm rolling in which we later encountered in full force.

A long way up requires a long way down

These mountains have a few interesting stories to tell, so hang in there until next time to learn more about life at the top of Europe.