アレインの峠・トップ15

The highest road pass in the Aosta Valley and a place that has always fascinated the writer for its thousand-year history, the austere Mauritian hospice and the profound beauty of the landscape.

この登りは信じられないほど素晴らしいです。勾配はきつくありませんが、長く、非常に長く、果てしなく続きます。ほとんど嫌いになりそうな地点に達します。1時間以上も自転車を漕いでいるのに、まだ頂上が見えず、エネルギーは尽きかけ、風は顔を叩き続けます。自転車を投げ捨てて「もう十分だ！ここで止まる！」と言いたくなるでしょう…しかし、それはほんの一瞬のことです。なぜなら、それに挑むことを選んだのはあなた自身であり、何をしているのかをはっきりと知っていたからです。以前よりもさらに気合を入れて、残りの力すべてで最後の数キロの道を駆け抜けます。 そしてトンネルに入ると、やり遂げたのだと実感し始めます。トンネルを抜けて、わずかに左に曲がる道を進むと、まるで夢のように湖が現れます。 頂上に着くと、何世紀にもわたってこの道を歩んできた人々のことを思います。サラッシ族、ローマ人、修道士、移民、ナポレオンの兵士たち…歴史が濃密で自然が素晴らしい場所にいることを理解し、この丘を愛さずにはいられません。

Very panoramic hill, reachable only with bike on your shoulder

A wonderful sight after a long climb - in early summer, when the lake is just waking up from hibernation, you can sometimes see very beautiful pictures of melting ice, snow marbled with Sahara dust and blue water.

Here you are not at the top (2734m) yet, but at 2080m. But a beautiful view.

The austere buildings of the hospice of the Great Saint Bernard are located in a rocky pass through which an icy wind almost always blows, on the edge of a lake that is frozen on average 265 days a year and where winter lasts almost eight months. For nine centuries, canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, who settled here through the help of St. Bernard of Menthon, have maintained a tradition of helpfulness and hospitality. Travelers who want to relax for a while in that peaceful place are welcome all year round.

Drive past and enjoy, definitely too cold for swimming

A mountain pass overlooking the Great Saint Bernard Monastery. The summit of this pass is rocky and wild, worn and battered by the brutal winters for which the Alps are known. This pass, however, offers an excellent and captivating climb, while being involved in some superb and intuitive routes in the region. You can expect brilliant panoramic views of the region's many lakes and valleys, as well as a vast expanse of mountains stretching into both Italy and Switzerland.