Start: Planaval/Finish: Rifugio Chalet de L'epée, 15.7km, +867, -43
Planaval is yet another lovely tiny village in a lovely valley, the first of several along the AV2. It's yet another alpine valley and yet another alpine village, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful.
The backdrop to Planaval
Today is more of a stroll than a hike. The path leaves straight from the hotel and take me through the valley, crossing the river a few times, sometimes on gravel and sometimes on the road itself. There's very few cars around, and I walk among villages where people water their gardens while chatting to their neighbours. The beautiful end-of-summer day reminds me of The Sound of Music, only without Nazis or dresses made of drapes.
In no time I arrive at Valgrisenche, the main commune in the valley. I sit on a bench at the entrance to the town, but I'm soon awaken from my thoughts by the sound of cow bells. A lot of cows. While it's a prevailing sound up in the mountains, sometimes the only sound, it is not that common down in the valley. Soon I see the cows with their shepherds and other family members talking them down the main street. It's clearly an event, with several herds being taken down into the valley now that summer is ending. It's a lovely sight, one not endorsed by a bull being kept in a pan next to the road, the bull mooing and roaring (with anger? sexual frustration?)
Valgrisenche has a church (of course), a bar-restaurant (more of course), a small general store with a pharmacy and a main street. Like most valleys around here, even the largest commune in the valley is still very small.
Crossing the village, and just before the large dam, the path takes a left and starts climbing through the forest. I take my time, enjoying the coolness of the forest, the smell of rotten leaves and the beauty of the knotted roots visible through the forest floor.
I walk past a Jesus on the cross at the edge of the meadow, and I know that I'm near my destination for the day. It's much more common in these parts to see small shrines of the Madonna, rather than Jesus on a cross. I wonder why Jesus, and why here. Is it here to remind believers that someone is watching over them, or perhaps meant to keep them in place, reminding them that Jesus died for their sins?
Christianity is so ubiquitous here, there's no longer any signs of the time before this religion was brought over from the far away place I call home. Or maybe there are, but they are covered with so many generations of worshiping a god created elsewhere, that they are no longer visible to the untrained eye.
As an atheist, I'm both fascinated and disappointed by he ever-present Christianity. Surely, if you believe in a higher power, the Alps are the place to worship. The mountains are treacherous and dangerous and yet magnificent. Surely in the past people prayed to the gods to have a long summer, to keep them safe from avalanches, to bring the men, trekking across the ridges looking for work, safely back home with grains and other supply that will help survive the winters. Were there shrines along the trade routes? did people bring gifts to the gods of snow?
We take the ease in which we live for granted, but in these places, life were hard.
So I understand the need to worship, I understand the need to ask for help and pray for mercy. What I don't understand is turning away from nature and adopting a strict, foreign god, with a son he birthed with a (married) women and then killed for the sins of others. How is this story relevant to this place, to these views, to this magnificent nature?
I guess I just don't get it.
Jesus on the cross on the way to the hut
Having taken my time, I arrive after the lunch rush. I order Tagliere and just look at the view. It's windy out, but with the sun setting above the mountains, the view is magnificent. A tall, blond couple sits next to me - they are Dutch, came for a few days hiking. Soon we are joined by another Dutch couple, and the conversation flows. Being Dutch, their English is perfect.
The hut has a large dormitory room with smaller rooms branching off, and I get one to myself. There's hot water, and the shower is based on a trust system - use it, and just pay us 3 euros when you check out. True mountain trust. Dinner is plentiful, even in mountain huts standard, with a fresh Tomato salad and a vegetable soup! I'm in heaven.
Clouds nestling and sun setting above Col Bassac
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