Walking in the Haute Savoie: North. Janette Norton

sections: the Vallée Verte around Boège; the Vallée du Brevon around Bellevaux; the Pré-Alpes du Léman above Evian; and the two main valleys of the River Dranse: the Val d’Abondance and Val de Morzine.

      The walks in the companion volume Walking in the Haute Savoie: South are mostly located south of the Giffre and Arve rivers. They are situated along the Vallée de l’Arve and above the Plateau d’Assy nearer to Chamonix; in the Vallée du Haut Giffre near Sixt and Samoëns; in the Chaîne des Aravis near La Clusaz and Thônes; on the Plateau de la Borne near la Roche-sur-Foron; and near the shores of Lac d’ Annecy.

A short history of the Haute Savoie

      The department of the Haute Savoie did not come into being until 1860 when Napoleon III and King Vittorio-Emmanuele signed the Treaty of Turin, and the Duchy of Savoie, along with Kingdom of Nice, was annexed to France. The area of the Duchy was then split into Haute Savoie, the upper or northern region, and Savoie, the southern region.

      The history of the region goes back to prehistoric times when it was settled by Stone Age hunters and farmers. These were succeeded in the sixth century BC by the Celtic Allobroges, who in 121BC were conquered by the Romans. The region became part of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, and it was a Roman historian who in AD380 made the first written reference to Savoie, calling it Sabaudia, ‘land of the fir trees’. After the Fall of the Roman Empire the Germanic tribe of Burgundians moved in, and a series of chieftains governed until AD1003 when Humbert the ‘White-Handed’ was made the first count of Savoie. The counts were vassals of the Holy Roman Emperors, who in the ensuing years granted them even more territory, their lands eventually stretching from Lake Geneva in the north, including parts of western Switzerland, to the Dauphiné in the south, with their capital at Chambéry. The power of the counts was based on their control of the Alpine passes, and feudal castles were built at strategic sites to protect their lands.

      The ruined castle at Chaumont (Walk 6)

      In 1416 the Holy Roman Emperor made the County of Savoie an independent Duchy, with Amadée VIII as its first duke, and in 1429 this was unified with Piedmont in northwest Italy, its territory now stretching as far south as Nice. The dukes had considerable power and influence, and in an age of great religious belief had a number of abbeys and monasteries built. One of those still standing is the Abbaye d’Abondance. The remote mountain valleys provided an ideal retreat for Carthusian monks who wished for seclusion, and the Chartreuse du Reposoir in the Aravis still remains, although now it belongs to the Carmelites.

      Abondance Abbey cloisters

      For a time there was peace in the region, but at the start of the 16th century the Protestant Reformation under Calvin spread from Geneva and Catholicism was outlawed, resulting in many deaths. It was a young priest, François de Sales, born in 1567 near the village of Thorens-Glières, who managed to convert the population back to the Catholic faith. He has been revered by the local population as a saint ever since, and many small chapels, wayside shrines and statues have been erected in his memory, especially in the Vallée Verte and the Val d’Abondance, where a fragment of his elbow bone has recently been found.

      In the following years the strategic position of Savoie meant that it continued to be a battleground for the powers of France and Austria as they fought over it, first one side and then the other gaining control. In addition, both the Chablais in the northeast and the Geneva area in the northwest were taken over for a short time by the Swiss. Then, in 1714, as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession, Savoie gained the Kingdom of Sicily, which in 1720 was exchanged for that of Sardinia. From now on the heads of the House of Savoie were known as the Kings of Piedmont-Sardinia, and their capital moved to Turin.

      Although the area was still very poor and many of the peasants had emigrated, some prosperity was coming to the region as industries began to develop, with clock- and watchmaking in the Arve valley and stonemasonry in the Haut Giffre. In addition, as the beauty of the Alpine scenery was discovered by writers and painters of the Romantic movement, the area gradually opened up to tourists. The first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 by Balmat and Paccard was the start of the Age of Alpinism, and soon Chamonix and its glaciers were on the list of places visited by aristocratic young men on their Grand Tour of Europe.

      When the French Revolution broke out in 1792 France invaded yet again, and Savoie, including Geneva, became part of the department of Mont Blanc, later known as the department of Mont Blanc-Léman. But after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 the Congress of Vienna ruled that Savoie be given back to the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, although this time the people of Geneva decided to join the Confederation of Swiss States and cut themselves off irrevocably.

      This was followed by a relatively prosperous economic and cultural period. Many churches and other buildings date from this time, and the clock-making industry and agriculture became firmly established. French culture and language continued to flourish, until in 1860 Savoie was finally ceded to France and Vittorio-Emmanuele, the last Duke of Savoie, became the first King of Italy.

      Today the Haute Savoie is one of the richest and most developed areas of France. Industry has expanded, the Arve valley being well known for its precision and mechanical engineering, with 1200 companies in a 30km radius. There are many other businesses, such as the manufacture of ski equipment, and wood related industries such as forestry and furniture making. Since 1965 the Mont Blanc road tunnel has provided an important link between France in the north and Italy in the south, thus placing the Haute Savoie on one of the greatest trade routes in Europe.

      More importantly, tourism has grown exponentially in the last 50 years, especially since the 1960s when skiing became popular and new resorts such as Flaine and Morzine–Avoriaz were constructed, opening up hundreds of kilometres of ski runs, those of the Portes du Soleil linking with Switzerland. Climbing and walking have also become increasingly popular activities, aided by the building of refuges for overnight stays and the construction of long-distance footpaths that run through the area. The creation of nature reserves has ensured that the beauty of the environment, with its rich wildlife and flora, is protected for posterity.

      The Alpine Museum at the Chalets de Bise (Walk 21)

Wildlife

      Thanks to the ecology movement and the creation of nature reserves, the animal population of the Alps has increased in recent years. A good example of this is in the Réserve des Aravis, where chamois had been hunted almost to extinction. When the park was created in 1972 there were only six left, whereas now there are over a thousand.

      The various species which can be glimpsed, if you are lucky and there are not too many people, are deer, ibex, chamois, moufflons, mountain hares, wild boar, marmots, grouse, buzzards, eagles, ptarmigan and bearded vultures. There are also the more widespread rodents such as foxes, dormice, stoats, weasels, pine martens and squirrels. Both lynx and wolves have recently made a re-appearance in the Haute Savoie, the lynx coming across from Switzerland, where it was re-introduced, and the wolf from the Italian Alps. Both are protected animals, and farmers are concerned about implications for their livestock.

      If you are interested in finding out more about the wildlife of the area, the following books are recommended:

      Wild Animals of Britain and Europe (Collins Nature Guide)

      Birds of Britain & Europe (Collins Pocket Guide)

      Butterflies of Europe, Tristan Lafranchis (Diatheo)

      Animals

      Ibex are mountain goats with beautifully curved ridged horns, sometimes more than a metre long. Sturdy, passive animals, the ibex has no natural enemies, although the babies have been known to make an eagle’s meal. They are usually to be found at an altitude of about 2000m, the females with their young in small family groups, and the males joining them during the rutting season at the end of the year, when they use their long horns