6th August 2014 Great St-Bernard Pass to La Clusaz 18.5km
Another beautiful fine day so it was perfect to set off after breakfast in the hospice towards Gignod (where I had started to walk from in May) . It was steep and going down constantly so I had to watch where I put each foot, especially with so much water coursing down from the mountain sides and flowing over the path. All the way down it was impressive to see the 6km of winding road snaking down the deep valley and 6 more kilometers of covered galleries (to protect against avalanches) before finally joining up with the road exiting from the road tunnel. It’s the 50th anniversary of the opening of tunnel this year. The valley was as beautiful as I remembered it but with many more wild-flowers, at one time a full field of the dark red irises. The tiny and bigger streams were coursing down their beds with a beautiful chorus and often making cascades. Again the villages were so neat and with gardens now full of many flowers and balconies laden with red geraniums and other flowers. The second harvest of hay was underway with the winnows (as a friend said the lines of cut hay before it is baled are called) being dried. And the many little vegetable gardens were full of summer produce and of course there were still some barking dogs! I stopped for a cappuccino in Bourg Saint-Rhemy after 7 kms going down and continued down to Etroubles (which proudly proclaimed the gold medal it had won last year for its flowers) where I had my picnic lunch which the hospice had prepared for me. I sat next to a shrine with a big carved wooden figure of Christ and realized that I had seen many wooden sculptures in various places so perhaps this is a speciality of the valley (an activity during the long winter months). The final couple of kilometres I did along grassy tracks running by the side of a “rus” which forms part of an elaborate system of water channels running along the sides of the mountains and which have irrigated the whole valley since the 14th century, taking water to even the smallest fields – the largest channels are still in use today. In Switzerland these little channels are called “bisses” and still have locks at various intervals which can be opened so that water can be used to irrigate the fields. As I wanted to take the bus back up to the pass I had to keep checking my watch ( last bus to the Pass for the day left Gignod at 14h25) and finally I had to cut short my walk at La Clusaz (at 1200m altitude) after 18.5km, but 4 km short of Gignod, and scramble down to the main road to catch it. Opposite the bus-stop was a hotel which had previously been one of the first pilgrim hostels in the valley, dating to 1234, and it had beautiful frescoes on its facade. Had to smile coming back in the bus as at one intersection near where the tunnel road and the normal road join up I saw two policemen from the financial squad next to their clearly-marked car armed with stop sign in hand ready to flag down a car – in the direction coming from Switzerland – and I was wondering whether they had a specific vehicle in mind… Also many cyclists on the road going up and down which I thought awfully steep but my nephew Michael has ridden it & declared it a good ride… For those of you who are wondering, there was no possibility of meditation as I walked either up or down as I had to constantly watch where I put each foot on the treacherous paths although I often paused to contemplate the fabulous views in both Switzerland and Italy. Great news was that after these two days of solid walking I had no blisters nor tendon problems – but I will feel my thighs tomorrow… A woman who has just arrived at the hospice to be a lay volunteer until the end of the month will sleep in the room with me tonight. Another lively and satisfying dinner at the long tables in the refectory & a good sleep under the eiderdown.
After a lazy morning I took the bus back down to Bourg St Pierre to catch the train home, a happy little “pilgrim”. I was speaking with a friar as I paid my bill about the number of people they accommodate (with them there will be 122 people who sleep there tonight) and getting suitable provisions, and especially fresh produce. He said that during the summer everything comes in by road and then they stock up at the end of September for the winter (no deliveries as they are completely snowed in) but that he had never eaten so much salad as during the winter months because people bring them salads, vegetables, fruit, even fresh pineapples, in their rucksacks when they come during the winter on skis or snow shoes..
So, arrivederci from the Via and perhaps until next year.