Interlude: Countryside

I can’t tell exactly how many miles we put on our Transit  over the course of the two weeks – rough estimate would say 1,500. A lot of those were intended to be “scenic”. We took the Autobahn (and the French equivalent) a couple of times, but generally stayed on the blue highways. These will serve you well all over the continent, even if they’re not specifically designated scenic routes. Much of Western Europe is pretty enough to stand on its own.

I was hoping for better, along these lines, from the Black Forest. Mountains are prime scenic territory, after all. But we got our share of view-obstructing clouds on some days.

On non-cloudy days, we got tree obstruction. A gap would appear for a second, but before you could say “look, a valley” it would close, and you’d see more trees. We kept an eye out for local fauna – I’d seen a fat rabbit on an early morning walk – but not so much as a deer, and barely a bird, appeared on the drives. We would have settled for road kill.

One valley was pretty enough, the Wolfach valley, with cows and barns and all that straddling the Wolfach stream. But it came after a twisty turny drive, and there was more relief in getting out of that than happiness at the sight.

What the German roads did offer, one day, was a fun road rally. Classic 60’s sports cars passed us on the other side of the road, every 30 seconds, for miles.

The French countryside was an improvement. Colmar is on the east side of the very broad Rhine valley, and once you get beyond the industrial zone that abuts the river, you’re smack dab into wine country. Unfortunately...I have no good photos of this. Anyway.

Wine country is almost always scenic. I’ve been to a few, notably Champagne, Chiani, and the Moselle Valley. The regimented rows, muted greens, hills and dips, and regular sunshine work to give the firm impression of the good life. And the real promise of a good glass of wine, just a few yards away, helps spread good vibes.

Alsace hits all these marks. One further delight is the smattering of small towns (like Riquewihr) that you can see plunked down in the sea of grapevines. It’s not like Tuscany, where the towns are all on hilltops. These towns are just there, and easily visible from a few yards up. From a few hundred yards up, the effect is delightful.

But but but…for my Dollar Euro Franc, the best scenery is found in Switzerland. Didn’t I mention how every country has their own “Little Switzerland” area? There’s a reason for this, and it’s not about the size of the mountains (the Alps top out at 4,000m, not bad, but not all that much compared to the Rockies, Caucasus, or Andes, much less the Himalayas). It’s about the topography plus the flora and fauna.

The remarkable thing about the Swiss hills is how hilly they are. Their hills and mountains aren’t a long series of ridges and valleys, but a collection of individuals stuck together. The extreme example is the Matterhorn, sitting out there all by itself, but the theme is carried out throughout the country, down to little hillocks that sit within irregular valleys.

The effect, especially while driving, is remarkable. Instead of an endless but static scene, like you’d see atop a ridgeline, you drive around valleys and get ever changing views. The closer hills – rounded tops and sides steep enough to be a real hill, but not so steep as to keep grass and animals off of it -- will parallax against the mountains in the background for a constantly refreshed landscape. It’s as if the mountains are moving, too.

And what mountains! I don’t just mean the snow-capped peaks, which are stunning by themselves – steep and pointy and all that. It’s the lower, grassy, agricultural areas that are spectacular. Deep, rich green grasses (cows and sheep everywhere) – green without any hint of dullness or yellowing. Green that you can’t get from a golf course or a patch of astroturf. All populated by those happy cows, and the occasional town with its cute little church watching over it.

I was concentrating on keeping the Transit in the road, so I have no photos of out drive through the Appenzell. It doesn’t really matter, photos don’t capture the 3-D effect of the mountains in the foreground and background, and their interplay when you’re moving. You can see for yourself with this photo from Appenzell town – there’s no sense of distance and layers in the background hills.

For photos, stick with the vistas of wine country. For touring, go to the Alps.