Switzerland’s Canton of
Valais – a World Apart
By Caroline M. Jackson
Bordering
France and Italy, the once remote southwest canton of Valais is easily
accessible by train from Geneva, yet is often overlooked by summer visitors.
Sion, the canton’s capital, is the oldest town in Switzerland and dates
from Roman times. Its name was derived from the Latin Sedunum meaning seat
of castles. It comes by its name honestly as the wide valley floor is
crowned by two 13th Century medieval sentinels - Chateau de Valere and
Chateau de Tourbillon which sit broodingly atop steep rocky promontories.
To
familiarize ourselves with this rich historic city, we took a guided walking
tour from the tourist office in Place de la Planta. As we strolled down the
cobblestone streets into the heart of the Old Town, our route took us
through a labyrinth of antique shops, museums, churches and the cathedral
renowned for its wooden triptych. In the 16th Century church of St.
Theodule’s, our guide produced a key and beckoned us to follow her down a
set of stairs which led into a dark basement. After activating the light
timers, we found ourselves transported back in time to 450 AD. Before us lay
ancient tombs and Roman baths complete with a fridgidarium and aqueducts
inclined to the Sion canal. Discovered during archaeological digs in 1966,
the baths were either used by the public or some important person in Sion.
On returning to street
level we tarried in the Town Hall with its ornately carved wooden door and
1505 home of Georges Supersaxo. On the last stretch of our tour, each turn
opened up stunning panoramas - sometimes a snowy alpine scene, a peek-a-boo
view of one of the fortresses, or a glimpse of the tree-lined meandering
Rhone River.
With the intense midday sun
beating down on us, it was time for a shady walk in the vineyards which
cloak the surrounding hillsides.
First planted by the
Romans, vines have been growing here since the third century AD and it is
said that if all the terrace walls were put together end-to-end, they would
be longer than the Great Wall of China. Even though nearly a quarter of the
canton is covered by glaciers, the region has the driest climate, the lowest
rainfall and the most sunshine in Switzerland. The warm and sometimes hot,
foehn wind also keeps the grapes from rotting. It is a well-kept
secret that the Swiss produce excellent wines yet few people know about it
because this precious commodity rarely crosses its borders. Annual
production is around 200 million bottles and only one percent is exported.
The dry hillsides are irrigated by a vast network of narrow canals which are
supplied by melt water from the snowfields and glaciers. Walking alongside
these gently gurgling channels called bisses, and stopping to sample one of
the local wines is a great way to while away the afternoon. The locals are
exceptionally friendly and everyone greets each other with a smile and a
bonjour. If you pass the same person twice on the terraces, the greeting is
re-bonjour. Wine connoisseurs can also taste more wines from the Valais’
vineyards by visiting Le Verre a Pied, a centre in Sion where the region’s
cellarers welcome visitors.
For
an exciting bird’s-eye perspective of the Valais, we took a one-hour
flight with Alpine Tours which is based in Sion airport. When boarding, our
pilot, Albert de Torrente was gracious after I accidentally placed my foot
on the pristine white wing which was clearly marked ne pas marcher.
Undeterred by the strong
wind which blew along the valley floor, the propeller of our four-seater
plane whirled, the plane vibrated and we were soon aloft. Below us the
elongated gliders looked like skinny birds, the terraced vineyards fell away
from each side of the valley and the sentinels of Valere and Tourbillon
looked like miniature sandcastles. As we headed towards the Alps, valleys
opened up below us with chalets dotting summer pastures. Massive glistening
snowfields came into sight and soon the distinctive sphinx-like shape of the
Matterhorn hove into view, hiding modestly behind a billowy petticoat of
clouds.
Rivers
appeared as slender ribbons of turquoise and soon we were flying along the
Val d’Heremence, site of the Grande Dixence Dam, the biggest and one of
the highest-altitude dams in the world.
Having experienced the
heights of the region, by contrast we decided to visit Europe’s largest
underground lake. Located just west of Sion, the subterranean lake of
Saint-Leonard is accessed down a rock-hewn staircase which leads into the
300 meter-long grotto. In this chilly atmosphere, a multi-lingual guide
transports visitors by row boat to a beach at the end of the lake. Fed by
nearby glaciers, the cold water doesn’t support any life except for some
hand-fed rainbow trout which darted around under our boat. The acoustics are
apparently excellent and the grotto is host to the occasional Alpenhorn
concert.
The next day, having been
intrigued by the scenery we had seen during our airborne adventure, we took
a drive south towards the Alps along the Val d’Herens. The winding road
cut through steeply wooded hillsides past the Pyramides d’Euseigne, an
outcropping of pointed crags each crowned with a delicately balanced dark
boulder – a bizarre leftover from glacial moraines.
Our
final destination was the quaint village of Evolene, which five years ago,
was the scene of one of Switzerland’s worst avalanches. Today this
delightful mountain village is the perfect place for those who enjoy a
retreat in an alpine setting. The village has preserved many of its
traditional wooden houses and barns perched on giant straddle stones. The
north side of each house is constructed of stone to offset the cold while
the south side is built of wood. Enticed by the enchanting setting and the
friendliness of the locals, we decided to follow the European tradition of
having a long lunch. Le Vieux Mazot with its outdoor tables just off the
main street was the perfect place to watch the world go by.
We
chose raclette the Valais’ national dish. The owner, in national costume,
melted the local cheese before a fire then scraped it off onto a warm plate.
It was then served with
jacket potatoes, pickled gherkins and silverskin onions. This dish is said
to have been invented by Alpine herdsmen in need of a good, simple hot meal
when they were up in the mountains.
Having flown over the
Matterhorn, we now wanted to see it up close. A train east to Visp enabled
us to connect with the Glacier Express bound for the ski resort of Zermatt.
Although the town is car free, electric taxis from various hotels meet
arriving passengers at the station. We had pre-booked a room at the Hotel
Mischabel so we trundled our small cases along the Bahnhofstrasse when much
to our surprise, we came across a flock of mountain goats being shepherded
along the main road. The perfect photo opportunity came and went as we
scrambled for our cameras and tried to move our luggage onto the raised
sidewalk. Our hotel turned out to be an old fashioned wooden chalet and our
internal grumblings about having to carry our cases up to the top floor were
quickly dispelled after we walked onto our balcony. The unimpeded view of
the mighty sphinx-like Matterhorn was spectacular. That night I lay in bed
and watched the mountain being backlit by the moon then at dawn, I watched
the mists dissipate from its pink-tinted snowy flanks.
Early the next morning we
walked alongside the fast-flowing glacial Vispa River to the train station
where we caught the cog-wheel railway to the Gornergrat (3089m).The ascent
afforded us a view of Zermatt, then we chugged through forests of pine and
larch emerging to admire a breathtaking circular panorama over 29
four-thousand meter peaks.
On the return journey, we
dismounted at Riffelberg Station where we hiked along myriad mountain tracks
zigzagging before the backdrop of the Matterhorn and Mount Rosa. En route to
the cooling waters of a turquoise alpine lake, we passed a flock of sheep
huddling against a snow bank. This time we had our cameras ready.
However,
we knew that no photograph could ever capture the beauty of the Valais which
is indeed a world apart.
Where to stay:
Sion: Hotel du Rhone http://www.bestwestern.com
Zermatt: Hotel Mischabel e mischabel.zermatt@reconline.ch
Contacts:
Alpine Tours: http://www.gvmsion.ch
Sion Tourism: http://www.siontourism.com
Evolene: http://www.evolene-region.ch
Switzerland Tourism: http://www.MySwitzerland.com
