Tom`s travels: Fenestrelle, Val Chisone and Pinerolo (07-08/07/2023)

After the pilgrimage hike along the Susa Valley with my brother to Turin I decided to head back to the mountains to see the famous Fenestrelle Fort. I left Turn in the late afternoon catching a train that brought me to the town of Oulx which my brother and I had walked through a few days before. Once there I got off the train and managed to get the last bus that brought me to the town of Sauze d'Oulx at about 1510m above sea level. I had originally booked the Hotel Clotes but had then received a message from them saying the hotel was closed and that they had moved my reservation to the nearby Hotel La Torre. Once there I checked in and was shown to my room. Despite having one more star than the original hotel I booked, the rooms in this other were not as nice as I expected. The peculiarity of the place was that it was a large cylindrical structure with the rooms all located around a central tube-like hollow in a circle. To my surprise, I found out that the place was also fully booked by what seemed to be a huge group of children participating in a running competition so the whole place was really loud. Luckily the kids also went to bed early so I managed to get some sleep. Generally, the town is popular during the winter as there are many hotels and there's easy access to the slopes, however, now in mid-summer, there was barely anyone around. In the morning I got up early and headed to the nearest bar to get a croissant for breakfast. Having eaten I then started my hike, leaving the town behind me and entering the beautiful Gran Bosco of Salbertrand. I started my ascent, feeling the cold of the early morning and altitude through the beautiful forest and with a view of the surrounding mountains. The morning had started out with a few clouds but as I headed uphill the sun started coming out warming me as I went. At one point I came out of the treeline and continued hiking up the bare face of the mountain spotting a chamois hopping nearby and several cute screaming marmots. Eventually, after a tough climb, I reached the top of the Monte Blegier at more than 2,500m above sea level. The mountain was not particularly noteworthy as it was just one of the many minor peaks around this higher plateau, however, the view from there was incredible, granting me a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding mountains. I could spot many major peaks many of which were well over 3,000 meters and partly snow-capped. From the peak, I then followed a country road, known as the Strada dell'Assietta a 34 km-long dirt road that runs along the ridge that separates the Susa and the Chisone valleys almost entirely above 2000 meters altitude. Vehicles are allowed to use it but due to its altitude, it is only open from June 1 to October 31. The road was constructed as a military road in the early 1800s as the whole area was an important strategic location. In fact, before that, in 1747 a famous battle had taken place between a numerically superior French force of 25,000 men against a Sardinian army of 15,000 men, with the French being soundly defeated and their commander killed. Still to this day a feast and recurrence on July 19th is celebrated yearly. As I walked along this road I luckily came upon just a few motorcycles and cars so my nice hike was not spoiled. However, as I walked I came upon an old couple picking up what seemed to be flowers. As I approached them they seemed to hurriedly run back to the car and try to cover what they had picked up. As they hastily left with their car I noticed in fact the nearby meadow was filled with beautiful stelle alpine, or edelweiss, a flower only found in the Alps and protected by law, meaning one can get a high fine if found picking them up. I took a photo of the car and nameplate and a few minutes later walking I came upon the mountain refuge Rifugio Casa Assietta. Here I talked with the owner and told him about the couple. He said to call the park rangers and that they had already been seen and fined before. I called one of the rangers and he told me that unfortunately despite having received fines before they often come back and still pick up the flowers. He thanked me for my report and wished me good luck on my travels. Leaving the mountain hut behind I continued on along the road passing then by the sight of the famous battle. At that point, the way led me down the southeastern face of the mountain in the direction of the Chisone valley. As I descended the wind picked up, and the temperatures dropped with mist coming up and at some points making me miss the trail. After passing a herd of cows and some huts used by shepherds and farmers I then reached a narrow part of the mountain with a view of the Chisone Valley below and my destination, the Fenstrelle Fort. This narrow valley is known as the Gorge of the Dead, with surprising reddish rocks and an absence of flowers with the legend stating that it was because of the slaughter of the battle which had turned the waters of the Chisone red from the blood of the dead and with people swearing they still hear the moans and cries of those fallen. Luckily I only read about the legend after I had reached the bottom of the gorge so that made the walk further more pleasant than if I had taken it in the opposite direction. The sun had come out to shine again, and I just hoped it wasn't a coincidence that it had been covered and misty as I walked down the section of the gorge. After a bit of walking, I eventually reached the village of Balboutet with nice typical stone houses with wooden balconies and rooftops, a nice medieval fountain, and a small church. I had a quick break refilling my water sack and then continued on, shortly after reaching the next village, Usseaux. This place is part of the club the most beautiful villages in Italy, and rightly so as it sports a beautiful typical local architecture with narrow streets and stone houses with wooden rooftops and balconies decorated with colorful flowers. I walked through its pretty maze of alleyways and then exited it at its lower part heading then downhill to reach the bottom of the valley. Here I crossed the main street and the Chusone River, which gives its name to the valley, and on the other side passed by a small lake and reached yet another village, Laux. Also sporting local typical houses I strolled around it before heading on through the forest. Once I was out of the forest I had finally reached my destination, the town of Fenstrelle. Here I had originally found no place to sleep but after contacting the Serre Marie Camping for a tent to rent I was told I could stay there. The owner once there told me that he had no tent for me but instead had provided me with my own caravan to sleep in. He also told me it was for free and not to worry. I thanked him kindly and once inside the caravan set up my stuff for later. After that, I decided to head into town to explore as I still had some energy left despite the nearly 28km and 1,200 meters of ascent, and 1,500 of descent. Once in town, I walked through the nice main street and also some of the secondary side streets where I was also able to visit the church of San Luigi IX from the late 17th century. Nearby I also passed by the church of Convent of the Jesuits now closed and abandoned but quite a building when it was built in the mid 17th century to counteract the protestant reformations arising in these valleys. After my walk around town, I headed back to the campsite and went to the annexed bar where the kind lady and her son made me a nice filling dinner, gnocchi with four cheeses as a first course and hamburger with fries as a second course. Then I was off to sleep in my nice and quiet caravan.

In the morning after an early rise, I noticed it had rained overnight and was happy to have been sleeping covered in the caravan rather than in a tent. I then grabbed some croissants from the campground bar and a couple of sandwiches to take with me for lunch later. I thanked everyone, especially the kind owner for the night spent there and then went through town to reach the famous fort. The weather was still rather cloudy with low clouds and mist covering the valley. After having reached the fort I then got my ticket and waited with a few more people as the place could only be visited through guided tours. The fortress was built between 1728 and 1850 by Savoy to guard the access to Turin via the Chisone valley. Spanning up the side of the mountain at altitudes between 1,100 and 1,800 m., this fortress actually consists of three forts and seven redoubts, united and independent of each other, connected by ramparts, bastions, staircases, and as many as 28 rises, with a total area of 1,350,000 m² making it the biggest alpine fortification in Europe. Once we were all ready our tour started with an introduction to the Forte San Carlo, the lower part of the complex, and the most important and best-preserved section of the entire fortification. It was built between 1731 and 1789 and is the main entrance to the fortress, facing the town. Here are also the main buildings, the Governor's Palace, Officers' Pavilion, Garrison Quarters, a church, a large powder magazine, warehouses, workshops, and an infirmary. From there we moved on to start our hike up the complex using the Covered Staircase a long tunnel right below the ramparts connecting the lower and upper parts. The guides, a middle-aged man and two younger guys were really good. The older man gave the most important info and then let the two younger ones provide further explanations as they were there also to learn and eventually lead groups of their own. They were all volunteers and very knowledgeable, friendly, and funny. As we continued upwards we then reached the Forte Tre Denti, located at about 1400m above sea level. Following the brief break in that section, we continued onwards just as the sun started to come out. That made it much more pleasant as we stood still but harder as we climbed because of the heat. We passed two redoubts, one at 1550m, known as the Ridotta di Santa Barbara, and then at 1680m the Ridotta delle Porte, before reaching the top of the fortress. This fort is known as the Forte delle Valli located at 1780m and was the first part of the fortress to be built as it was strategically the most important, due to its higher ground and from there easier to bring the construction material down to continue building the rest of the complex. Here were further buildings such as powder magazines, warehouses, barracks, and also a church. The view from that point was really nice and now with a few of the clouds gone and the sun shining we could easily admire the Chisone valley below. The tour was finally over and we exited the fort from the upper part. We then descended down along the complex through the forest with people talking to each other about the tour and other things in general. I thanked the guides and then hurried down as I intended to catch the next bus from the town of Fenstrelle. Once there I managed to get it and arrived in the city of Pinerolo right at the end of the valley on the plains looking towards Turin. Arrived in town I decided to visit its city center. I started out by heading to the Cathedral, originally built in the 10th century, it was later refurbished in a Gothic style in the 15th century but with a neogothic interior. Moving on I then walked through some pretty old town narrow streets passing by some interesting buildings such as the brick gothic 15th-century Casa del Senato, 16th-century Casa del Vicario, and 14th-century Palazzo Acaja. Walking uphill I then reached the highest point in town where the nice Basilica of San Maurizio was set. Originally dating to the 11th century it was refurbished in 1470 and again in the 19th century. In fact, it presented a mix of Romanesque and Gothic, particularly in the wide and tall brick facade, and its interior, though mostly remade in the neogothic style, still had traces of medieval frescoes. Outside I admired the beautiful bell tower from 1333 and sat down on a ledge of the nice little terrace right next to the church to admire the panorama of the city and the surrounding countryside. I stayed there for quite a bit until I decided to head back down through the city center and find myself a place to eat dinner. I ended up choosing a place called Perbacco where I had the full set menu which included an entree with beef tartare and vitello tonnato, a first course of agnolotti, a second course of steak and potatoes, and a bunet for dessert, all obviously with a tasty local red wine. It was then time for me to head to the accommodation, an apartment close to the city center, where the friendly owner met me later in the evening as he had been working late, coincidentally a driver on the bus that comes down from Fenestrelle. After a good night's sleep, the following day I caught an early train into Turin ready to visit more museums before finally heading back to my hometown Vicenza.