Queyras hiking and Italia - Italy

Queyras lies on the border of France and Italy in the southern alps. It feels a long way away from anywhere because there are lots of windy roads to get there, even though it is barely 10km away from Gap. There are less forests than around Vallouise and Allefroide, so the area looks bare, but feels more spacious. Even though it seems far away, there is no getting lost with no trees to hide behind, and people everywhere.

We visited the Chateau-Queyras around which you can do via ferata. When I first heard of via ferata it was years ago, and I thought it sounded fascinating (I didn’t really know that via ferata was). I remember listening intently as some guy told me about his adventures in the Dolomites doing via ferata – it all sounded so amazing... Anyway, I started walking along the via ferrata track not thinking it was really that necessary to get a harness and some slings for such an easy looking route...- I was a climber after all, but Nic had a bad feeling and warned me against going further and, reluctantly, I agreed. Coincidently that afternoon on the radio we heard that a man had died the day before on the Chateau- Queyras via ferrata! It reminded me of the time when I was a kid when mum warned me off going on a rollercoaster ride to my utter disgust, then a week later a whole carriage of the train fell to the ground and 4 people were killed.

Maybe Queyras is best kept for hiking. We went up the Pain de Sucre... (which means bread with sugar on top) to experience the panorama of the alps with Italy on one side and France on the other. The mountain from a distance looks a little like its name (if you have a good imagination) but there are no bakeries for a while, so its BYO for lunch on the summit. There are also some mountaineering routes at Queyras, but we decided against them, (or rather I couldn’t wake up early enough for us to leave to do them) and instead decided to try some sport climbing. The rock looked magnificent; a stark orange limestone, with good views, but, after a few minutes our fingers were tender, and the thought of falling against rock thats like a cheesegrater meant for a short day. Yes, best kept for hiking.

Being so close to Italy, and with time on our hands, we thought we would have a little Italian jaunt, for no other reason than to say we had been to Italy and to pass one afternoon. (There is more than enough to explore in 2 months in the French alps which is an awesome summer playground, but why not!) Crossing the border though was like stepping back in time. Whereas rural France seems to keep up with the times, rural Italy seems to be sleeping. The old Italian local mamas and papas were out chatting to each other as we wandered around checking out the menus of the local restaurants. And all the houses seemed to be in various states of disrepair where the balconies would be lucky to hold wood for the winter fires let alone people. The roads were shit... and neither of us can speak Italian apart from some random musical terms which don’t really mean much strung together... legato, adagio, largo, ritardando, ralentissimo, crescendo, decrescendo.... so straight back to France.