On Monday we drove through the Alps passing from France to Italy (to my surprise we managed to avoid Switzerland). I have driven through the Rockies and the Appalachian mountains, but I have not seen mountains as severe as those in the Alps. Vertical peaks still covered with snow and deep green valleys that are quenched by now raging rivers and multiple large waterfalls. I feared that our car might not be able to make the climbs, and even though it had difficulty with some of the inclines, we were saved by the many tunnels we passed through. The longest, the Mt Blanc Tunnel, is almost 12km long (with a toll to match that makes the bridge and tunnel tolls in NYC seem downright cheap), but we passed through at least a dozen other tunnels over a km in length and and many other shorter ones. Hannibal got through without that advantage. I can't imagine how the elephants made it.
The highway tolls in France are steep. However the alternative is two-lane roads trailing endless lines of trucks. It hardly pays to pass one because there always seems to be another truck in front of you. Google maps took us on to some of those roads to my chagrin.
We stumbled out of the Alps from the last tunnel into a ski town in northern Italy, Aosta. It is the northern point in Italy at the end of a long, green, grape-growing valley and did not have the feel or appearance of other places I have been in Italy. Pasta was not featured or prominent on the menu and it seemed more orderly and less frantic. Discussions in the restaurant revealed that many who live there are lifetime or long-term residents who have been skiing all their lives. It is a corner of the world where you can ski into and out of three countries and lift tickets are a third of the cost of US tickets. I need to come back there for some skiing.
The hotel in Aosta had a wonderful breakfast buffet. Lots of fruit, eggs you boiled yourself, endless espresso and even chocolate cake. Good start for the day.
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