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Following a flight to Lyons, we picked up a hire car and
headed for the Savoie Alps via Grenoble. Our first hotel was in St Sorlin
d'Arves, a quiet mountain village with magnificent views, flowery meadows
and woods full of orchids. Most spectacular of all were the huge flowers
of Lilium croceum (top right).
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Our next stay was further east in Lanslevillard. Excellent roads
gave easy access to the high mountain pass above Val d'Isere at Col de
l'Iseran (top left), where carpets of alpine flowers were spread before
us in all their miniature glory. Mont Cenis, another magnet for lovers
of alpines, was also nearby but remained cloud-covered throughout our stay.
Next stop was futher south near Briancon. Here the stately spikes
of Lilium martagon (left) grew in abundance close to our hotel.
One trip from here took us over the moonscape of the Col d'Izoard towards
the Italian border. On the eastern side of this pass were numerous huge
plants of the furriest member of the Milk Vetch family, Astragalus centralpinus
(right), found only in this region. Nearby, Black-veined White Butterflies
(bottom left) were taking their siestas on some vicious thistle heads.
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Moving a few miles west over the Col de Lauteret, our final
hotel was in La Grave, a high mountain village near the top of the Arc
valley. The "high point" of our holiday was a cable car ride up to the
Meije glacier, where skiing continues throughout the summer. Passing over
many tiny blue cushions of the King-of-the-Alps (Eritrichium nanum)
on the way up, we finally arrived on top of the World (bottom right).
 
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