As all students of history know, the great Italian patriots Mazzini and Garibaldi based their movement for the unification of Italy on the House of Savoy. This left some of the provinces of Savoy on the French side of the border with Italy, the last major Western European country to be unified into a post-feudal nation state. Indeed, the struggle over the Franco-Italian border anti-dates Napoleon's effort to name his son King of Rome. And the relatively difficult to define border in the Haute Savoie region, where the passes from Italy proper follow the Isere river down its wide valley past Albertville till it joins the Rhone not far from Lyon, has been a bone of contention between the two countries for ages.
As a result, France constructed six forts on the peaks surrounding Albertville. Tamie was refortified into its current condition as a prime example of classical post-feudal, but pre-modern caserne, just after the Franco-German war of 1870. Its fifteen acre terrain is surrounded on three sides by dikes and stone walls -- complete with draw bridge. The remaining side gives on a perpendicular cliff with a spectacular view of the Val d'Isere and Albertville. While we strolled around the fortress' walls, walked over the drawbridge, and gazed over the cliff at Albertville far below, we were unable to enter the fortress, which does not open for the season until June. The drive and views were however beautiful with the flowering spring shrubs just coming into full glory.
Driving on to another -- and far more ancient fortified town -- we climbed the switchbacks to Conflans, again located on a hill looking down at Albertville. Conflans is a rare example of a virtually unchanged medieval town with its gates, two simple waterering troughs -- very unlike the colorful, decortive fountains of Bern -- communal church, former town hall (now a museum), and the ancient Tour Sarrazine . The glory of Conflans is its narrow streets, leading to the Grande Place (dismiss any comparisons with that of Brussels). The streets are lined with living examples of virtually all the medieval guilds, with colorful (and photogenic) guild signs hanging in the street above their entries. Do not fail t6 refresh yourself with a drink at one of the faces on the Grand Place before climbiug further to the Public Garden with its flowering shrubs and magnificent view of Albertville far below. The museum was closed and we were unable to determine from the contradictory posted schedule just when it will be regularly open. Perhaps the French National Tourist Office can help.
Most who are in the least familiar with history know that a petty Andalusian lord, experiencing some difficulties with a neighbor, invited some Moors to cross the straits of Gibraltar to help him in his wars. The Moors found Spain more attractive than North Africa and stayed on. Indeed, they eventually came in numbers and attempted to take France, advancing as far as Poitiers before being turned back by the forces of Ccharlemagne. Even non-historians will remember the Song of Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, and the battle of Roncevalles, a tragic mistep in the ejection of the Moors from France (where did the term Saracen come from anyway?) The next great Christian victory was the reconquest of Pamplona, then, in progressive steps, Burgos, Toledo, Avila, Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. Columbus sailed on his first voyage of exploration from Seville shortly after its reconquest. The last of the Moors (or Saracens) were driven out of Granada in 1492, the year of his return from the New World (which he still thought was the Indies). Columbus knelt before Ferdinand and Isabella in the Alhambra to report his Discovery.
But who is aware that the Saracens not only drove to the central French city of Poitiers, but consolidated their holdings by stationing forces in the high peaks of Savoy! Indeed, Conflans may be thought of (with a little exaggeration) as the Alhambra -- or at least the Burgos -- of the Alps. The Tour Sarazinne , standing in the Public Park of Conflans was built by the Saracens as a lookout for Christian forces after the town had been sacked, burned, then reconstructed as an outpost of Moorish power north of the Pyrenees. Knowing that there was a Saracen outpost so near the borders of Switzerland, controlling access up the Isere Valley from Lyons certainly gives added appreciation for the near-run contest between Islamic and Western European culture eight hundred years ago. (According to recent newscasts and court decisions, and with ten per cent of the population of France of Muslim persuasion, it seems the contest is not yet over).
Shopping in Conflans is not the least of the attractions offered by the town. We found a truly extraordinary Atelier on a corner near the Grand Place. The husband/wife artist/owners studied with well-known artisans in Strasburg, have won various prix d'or and honorable mentions in exhibits ranging from the Grand Palais in Paris, to Nice, Arles, and Fort Myers, Florida. The couple has been located in Conflans for ten years, where they produce (relatively) inexpensive brooches and pins, glass work, original bronze castings, and have developed an impressive type of art related to Chinese cloisonee . This work is done by painting with enamel on etched brass, then firing the product, resulting in a vivid colored glass image even more brilliant than acrylic. Some works we saw were non-representational modern art, others religious, and others still, typical scenes of Conflans -- its gates, towers, streets, church, gardens, and fountains..
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