384 Route 136. - From Digne to Barcelonette. in 4 hours from Digne; thence a path leads down through parched valleys, rather resembling those of the north of Spain than of France, to the village Château Garnier, 7 hours from Digne, where there is a poor inn, the only resting place. From Château Garnier, the traveller soon reaches the valley of the Verdon, and, in its ascent, the interest increases to Colmar, a very small fortified town, which commands the entrance to a gorge, and was, with Barcelonette, formerly in possession of the Piedmontese government. It is still garrisoned, and its gates are shut at 9 P. M. with as much regularity as when it was a more important station. From Château Garnier to Colmar is 3 hours. A little above the town, in the valley there, is a small intermittent spring. Still higher up the valley of the Verdon, 1 hour above Colmar, is the little town of Alos, situate nearly 5000 feet above the level of the sea, in a high Alpine valley, surrounded by lofty mountains; the accommodations for travellers are poor, but the people very obliging. The neighbourhood of Alos is scarcely known to English travellers, but it well deserves their examination, and an excursion should be made to the lake of Alos, a distance of about 4 hours. The route to it lies by the village of Champ Richard. The lake is one of the largest and most profound in the French Alps, though it is situated at the height of 7500 English feet. Its form is almost circular, and its circumference is nearly 4 miles. The Mont Pela, which rises from the side of the lake, has an elevation of 10,500 feet, about 3000 above the lake. There is, perhaps, no spot in the Alps so sublimely wild There is an excellent path down to the valley of the Ubaye, but the descent is steep and fatiguing. Barcelonette may be reached on foot in 7 hours from Alos. The Hôtel du Nord affords good accommodation. In descending from the col, the valley of the torrent Bachelard opens on the right, flanked by grand precipices; it leads to St. Dalmas le Sauvage, and thence by St. Etienne, in the valley of the Var, thence across the Col de Mont Penche, to the Baths of Venadio, in the valley of the Stura, in Piedmont, p. 379. INDEX. In order to facilitate reference to the Routes, most of them are repeated in the Index Auxonne, 140. Ayent, 118. Bellinzona* to Splügen and Coire, by the Beresol, 171. Bergamasque shepherds, 217. Bergun, 216. BERNARD, ST., pass of the GREAT, 280-289 Bernard, St., the "Apostle of the Alps," 339. Bernardino, St., pass, 231. Villago, 232. BERNE to Thun, 71. to Lausanne, by Freyburg, 122. Bernina pass, 219. Bersesio, 379. Bertha, queen of Burgundy, 126. Saddle of, 126. |