VILLARS
AND ITS ENVIRONS

There is no more interesting district in the Rhone valley, perhaps even in the whole of Switzerland, than that which lies around the north-western entrance to the upper and main portion of the Canton of Valais—that impressive, narrow entrance formed by the buttress cliffs of the Dent de Morcles and the Dent du Midi, just inside of which nestles the ancient town of St. Maurice. For this district is compact of great variety. It holds examples of all that goes to the making of Switzerland’s fascination. It holds the fertile plain with its broad, rushing river, the Rhone; it holds, in Aigle and St. Maurice, two chÂteaued towns with long and active histories of their own; it holds, in Bex, one of the most delightful spots imaginable for spring and autumn; in Leysin, a world-known mountain health resort; popular mountain pleasure resorts in Villars, ChesiÈres, Gryon, Les Plans, ChampÉry and Morgins; and, in the natives of the Val d’Illiez, it holds a distinctive race with a distinctive tongue. Moreover, it contains, in the huge erratic blocks near Monthey and near Bex, remarkable vestiges of the great glacier which one time filled this valley and flowed on over what is now Lac LÉman;[1] it has noble peaks in number and of no mean order for the climber; it possesses at least three glaciers which, though small, are full of individual interest and beauty; and it harbours a flora so rich as to have become renowned. And yet all of this, and more besides, is packed within a comparatively restricted area. One reason for this great variety in so small a compass is the curiously striking fact of the Rhone dividing Vaud from Valais, and thus at the same time dividing to a marked extent what is wild and truly Alpine circumstance from what is relatively tame and rural. For ChampÉry, although at some 650 feet lower altitude than Villars,[2] its vis-À-vis across the valley of the Rhone, partakes of the rude Alpine character of Valais, whilst Villars has what may be called the civilized setting so generally characteristic of Vaud. The difference may be noted in their respective vegetations—in the trees and flowers. For instance, at ChampÉry the bell-gentian (Gentiana excisa) and the yellow pea (Lathyrus luteus) can be found within a few minutes of the hotels, whereas at Villars one must walk at least an hour and a half higher up to find the gentian, and the pea I have not found there at all. Or again, Villars possesses fine deciduous trees in quantity and its pines are perfect park-like specimens; whilst at ChampÉry deciduous trees are inconspicuous and the pines are of the rugged Alpine order. Villars possesses the finer panorama—one of the finest in Switzerland, particularly in winter—but ChampÉry provides the truer Alpine pictures, especially in summer.

Indeed the very variety of this district—historically, geographically, botanically sets a difficult task before so slight a volume as this present. However, an attempt must be made towards adequacy. No time can be wasted, and we had best start at St. Maurice and work diligently round in a circle by way of Bex, Les Plans, and Villars, thence to Aigle and Leysin, ending up with Monthey, Morgins, and ChampÉry, meanwhile knitting the whole district together with general and comparative facts.