Through the Italian Alps. Gillian Price
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alcoholic liquor.
If you’re part of a group a memorable – and warming – experience on a chilly day is to order a coppa dell’amicizia aka grolla. Hailing from the Valle d’Aosta (but believed to be of German origin with links to none other than the Holy Grail) it consists of an attractive hand-carved wooden bowl with numerous spouts. Participants take turns sipping the piping hot spicy blend of coffee and grappa. A highly recommended non-alcoholic alternative is heart-warming cioccolata calda, divinely rich thick hot chocolate that only the Italians seem capable of producing.
Mineral water (acqua minerale) is available but hardly necessary in a region so rich in natural springs –at eateries it is usual practice for a carafe of water (acqua dal rubinetto) to be brought to the table. Birra is available, and a refreshing version similar to shandy is panacea, a 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade. Otherwise there’s fruit juice (succo di frutta). Coffee comes as a tiny cup of strong black espresso, or topped with frothy hot milk as cappuccino, or in a long glass (or bowl at breakfast time) as caffè latte. Tè is usually served black with limone unless you specify con latte (with milk).
Vegetation
The early stages of the GTA are characterised by plants and flowers typical of the Mediterranean – the sea is a mere 40km to the south. Bushes of scented golden broom are abundant, as is divine French lavender, which grows as high as the 1500m mark. Pungent thyme, on the other hand, can be found along the entire trek. Its name derives from the Greek for ‘burn, sacrifice’, a reference to ancient funeral customs.
One group of aromatic – if rather nondescript – plants are the widespread wormwoods or artemisia, the scent of their clustered, woolly-looking flowers reminiscent of an anaesthetic. Varieties known as genipi are keenly sought after for their medicinal properties; an aromatic oil is extracted from the leaves, while flowered tips are left to steep in spirit for the renowned drink. Pickers need to have a permit, as over-enthusiastic gathering means it is now rare, and therefore protected. It can still be spotted growing in pockets in out-of-the-way valleys up to the 2000m mark. One rare type of wormwood used to be the essential ingredient in the yellowish-green aniseed-flavoured liqueur absinthe, which turned cloudy when water was added. Fashionable in the 1900s, it was banned once its toxicity was discovered; it was believed to cause hallucination and mental disorders! The popular French drink Pernod was manufactured in 1918 to act as a substitute. A similar flower, but with larger whitish or sandy-coloured heads, is a type of sneezewort of the Achillea family whose namesake – the Greek hero – was familiar with its therapeutic properties.
Another curiosity endemic to the Ligurian-Maritime Alps is the wild and moderately poisonous marmot plum, also known as Briançon apricot. The stone of its yellow fruit was crushed to produce an oil that was once used to extract the active ingredients from rhododendron galls, which in turn went into an ointment for treating rheumatism. The confusing name ‘marmot oil’ gave rise to the mistaken belief that the fat of the animals has anti-rheumatic properties, leading to senseless marmot hunting in the 19th century!
Only extremely lucky visitors to the Maritime Alps will have the opportunity to admire the endemic saxifraga florulenta, known grandly in English as the Ancient King. A cactus-like plant with a sizeable basal rosette, it produces an ostentatious pink-reddish 20cm high bloom just once in its lifetime, after 20–30 years, hence the Latin appellation ‘slow flowering’; it expires immediately afterwards.
Superb alpine flowers carpet the grassy slopes in midsummer. One of the earliest, the slender fringe-petalled alpine snowbell, can reasonably be expected in thawing snowfields. The heat released by the pale purple-bloomed plant as it breaks down carbohydrates actually melts the snow. Legend has it that the flower was a young girl who lived for spring and wasted away during winter.
Mountain cornflower
Gentians come in myriad varieties: blazing blue trumpets, tiny cerulean stars, tallish unwieldy plants bearing spotted yellow or wine-red flowers reminiscent of miniature tulips, and even a slender lilac type that flowers through autumn. Meadows shelter special treasures in the shape of elegant wine-red martagon lilies, and attractive purple and yellow orchids, if not the smaller exquisite insect types spotted by keen eyes only. Nearby may be alpine flax, whose attractive blue flower resembles the commoner periwinkle, and delicate pale yellow buckler mustard, its Latin name biscutella a reference to the double shield-like seed pods. Attractive pink spears of bistort grow in concentrations in sheltered depressions, while foxgloves come in a delicate pale lemon yellow hue. Alpine bartsia, a rather anonymous mint-like plant with downy leaves and dark purple tips, was dubbed the plant of grieving by the great Linnaeus, in memory of a young medical friend who lost his life in Surinam in 1738.
Rock soapwort
Type of houseleek
Moss campion grows in lovely round cushions of pointed bright green leaves dotted with tiny pink blooms, known by mountain-dwellers as ‘marmot bread’! It grows especially slowly, producing veritable miniature trees over a lifespan of 20–30 years. The dainty lacy-edged parsley fern (cryptogramma crispa from crypto, ‘hidden’), a type of rock-brake fern, can be found sheltering beneath stones at high altitudes. Low-lying hardy pink alpenrose, a type of rhododendron, often grows in association with woods of larch and bilberries.
Marshy zones are unfailingly interesting, with fluffy-topped cotton grass and bright marsh marigolds. A less apparent plant, with lilac-white blooms, is fascinating insect-devouring butterwort, its Latin name pinguicula a derivation of ‘greasy, fatty’ due to the viscosity of its leaves which double as insect traps. Victims are digested over two days, unwittingly supplying nitrogen and phosphorous for the host’s growth. In contrast dry sun-beaten hillsides are often home to succulents, chiefly the houseleek or sempervivum – a bit like a Triffid – along with a yellow variety of stonecrop.
Yellow foxgloves
Notable trees include the red-hued Arolla pine, an attractive conifer recognisable for its clusters of spiky needles. A slow developer, it can grow as tall as 25m and survive on exposed stony slopes up to 2500m, though often deformed by lightning strikes. On a smaller scale, but also at high altitudes, are miniature trees such as dwarf willow. Hailing from the Arctic regions, it forms resistant ground-hugging mats. It has been calculated that a 7mm trunk could be 40 years old, and one growth ring smaller than a tenth of a millimetre. Nature even beats the bonsai masters!
Of culinary interest is the plentiful wild fruit that rewards late summer walkers. Delicious sweet wild strawberries, raspberries and tiny round bilberries are the best known and easiest to identify. Take care not to consume lookalikes, which could be poisonous. Leave wild mushrooms to the Italian connoisseurs, as the vast range of multi-coloured funghi includes numerous deadly varieties.
Wildlife
Be warned that even in these high-tech times the mountains and valleys of Piedmont continue to be populated by mischievous spirits, fairies and even witches. The latter, known as masche, are renowned for playing harmless tricks on people as well as holding riotous dances, though the odd incident with kidnapped children has been recorded! Furthermore upper Valle Pellice, halfway through the GTA, is the haunt of the curious Daü. Somewhat hard of hearing due to its stubby ears, the mythical creature also has trouble keeping its balance because of its uneven limbs, and is likely to take a tumble down the mountainside if frightened by onlookers.
Somewhat easier to spot are shy chamois, mountain goats in amazing herds composed mostly of females with their young. They inhabit the vegetation band around the treeline, and if disturbed the dainty creatures take flight and dart up impossible rock faces with enviable ease. Sporting a fawn coat,