Stage 55: Étroubles

Italy!

Today we started the climb back down, now on the Italian side of the Alps.

The landscape is still stunning. One thing I noticed is that even though there are streams and rivers and springs everywhere, it smells dry. Not like on the French side where the air was sweet with the smell of trees, plants, wet stone, etc. Here the air smells of dry earth in spite of all the water. It’s wonderful, of course, but unexpected.

I came across a map today. It’s always a shock to see how much terrain we have actually covered. And suddenly we are in Italy!Read more