It was a remarkable fine day, and I enjoyed my walk very
much. The mountain air was keen and bracing and particularly delightful
after being shut up for some many days in the close valley. We had some
excellent trout for dinner. At Mont-Cenis, near the _Hospice_, is a large
lake which is frozen during eight months of the year. Here reigns eternal
winter and the mountains are covered with snows that never melt. From
Mont-Cenis to Suza the descent is very grand and striking, and the scenery
resembles that of the Simplon; there are more obstacles of nature than on
the former part of the road, and here ravines are connected by the means of
bridges, and there are subterraneous galleries to pass thro. Several
_chutes d'eau_ are here observable; one of them I cannot avoid mentioning,
as being very magnificent. It is formed by the Cenischia[74] which divides
Savoy from Piedmont and runs into the Dora at Suza. We were highly
gratified at the sight of the sublime scenery on all sides, and at the
magnificent _chaussee_, and we all (I mean the passengers in the two
coaches and myself) did hommage to the mighty genius who conceived and
caused to be executed such a stupendous work.
Pages:
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290