In which Doris admires some mighty torrents draining out of the Alps.
Say what you like about the French, they do a good river. But those rivers are usually lazily flowing, with wide clear (or slightly murky) water and supporting busy and productive commercial and leisure traffic in both directions.
The story in Switzerland and Italy has been a bit different.
As we climbed gently away from Lake Geneva through Martigny towards Aigle, we were following the upper section of the Rhone, as it descends from its source in a Swiss glacier. This is a very different kind of river, fast flowing and with the chalky look of Alpine glacier rivers.
After the GSB pass we picked up the Dora Baltea river, on its way from Courmayeur to augment the early stages of the Po. We are in mid-June but the volume of water in the river is amazing, and easily supports Ivrea’s world championship white water complex.
Even once we get into the Po valley itself, the volume of water in the irrigation channels is stunning.
And finally, as we ascend back into the Alps out of Turin and east towards Susa, the Dora Riparia which has only risen near the Col de Mongevre can already power this amazing hydroelectric project.
Whoo hoo. Say what you like about the Italians, they have a lot of available hydroelectric power.
Last week, it rained a bunch (technical term) all along the south edge of the Italian Alps. I know some people with an open car who were there. The rivers were all very impressive. South a couple hundred km’s, the rivers were rather boring.