In the heart of Europe and the highest Alpine summits,
although Switzerland's more well known for its prosperity
political neutrality or tourism,
its history is surprising.
Its numerous glaciers and 175 natural lakes
form Europe's water tower.
This multilingual country is a patchwork of territories
with remarkable historical or geographical sites.
Eleven of them are classed as World Heritage sites.
PART ONE THE ROUTE OF THE LAKES
The 1st part of our journey starts on the banks of Lake Geneva.
It continues along the Alpine range
in the direction of Lake Lucerne.
We'll follow in the footsteps of Neuchâtel's 1st inhabitants
before helping to restore
Bern's Saint-Vincent collegiate...
and flying over Lake Lucerne
in the centre of the country.
Geneva is at the tip of Lake Geneva's crescent
on the Rhône's 2 banks. A central basin:
water's split between Switzerland and France.
A protestant town since the 16th century
and a country of asylum for Huguenot bankers
pursued by Louis XIV after revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
In Saint-Pierre cathedral, Calvin,
theologian of the Reform, exiled to Geneva,
the protestant Rome, read holy Scriptures.
Banning jewellery for moral reasons,
he encouraged commerce
and made jewellers convert into watchmakers.
Also in Geneva,
the flag of the international Red Cross,
founded in the 19th century by Swiss Henri Dunant.
The Palace of Nations has housed
the European UN HQ since 1966.
On the right bank of Lake Geneva,
the Pâquis public baths' concrete architecture,
was influenced by the German Bauhaus movement
in the early 30s.
At that time the original 19th century building
was reconstructed after a fire.
All the Genevans come here.
At midday, there are bankers, immigrants,
students and musicians.
Regularly threatened with closure, notably in the late 80s
when the concrete structure suffered problems,
today the baths are protected by a users association.
Organiser Philippe Constantin
brings back the social and cultural
dimension unique to Geneva.
What's fantastic is people are brought together,
they don't really know each other and they start talking.
There's a social and cultural diversity
which is really impressive.
We can really consider it as a major cultural spot in Geneva.
There are more than 50 events
which take place in this area.
The idea of having concerts at dawn, at 6 or 7 in the morning
may appear to be a somewhat crazy idea,
if you like.
Initially, we had around 10 spectators in the morning.
And now, for example, this morning, we easily had 400 or 500.
It's like that, every morning.
There's a real passion for this way of sharing
magic moments and poetry,
before being shut up in an office.
It's a small piece of paradise, a special area unique to
Geneva and perhaps the world.
Star of the harbour, the white plume of Geneva's water jet
soars up to 140m.
Its origin, a simple safety valve of a hydraulic factory
added in the late 19th century.
It has become, over the years, the town's emblem.
Since 2003, it has worked 365 days a year.
North bank of Lake Geneva, Lavaux vineyard terraces,
in the canton of Vaud, were registered
as a Unesco world heritage site in 2007.
Narrow terraces,
built in the 11th century using low stone walls,
allowed vines to grow along steep hills.
An exceptional example of what we call
"cultural landscape, interaction over centuries
"between Man and the environment".
One of the most beautiful artificial landscapes in Europe,
a source of inspiration for many artists,
from painter William Turner to Charlie Chaplin.
Wine-growers in Lavaux for 5 generations,
Vincent Chollet's family makes wine
using chasselas grapes.
Wine expert Jérôme Aké, from Ivory Coast,
immigrated to Switzerland in 1990.
It's a very great Lavaux which enhances the chasselas.
I make the wine.
I advise him.
Yes, exactly. It corresponds to root growth.
The monks cleared the hillside here, put in vines,
built walls...
So really it's a completely manmade vineyard.
In fact, the vineyard's not at all natural.
The monks saw potential in the region.
That's why they settled here.
They carried out extraordinary work,
tearing down the forest, building walls
with rocks they often had to bring
by boat, from the other lakeside.
Wine-growers over centuries adapted their tools to hills.
Today, a small motorised funicular
links the plots.
The land has stayed intact since the Middle Ages
when Cistercian and Benedictine monks worked there.
The difficulties of hill farming
added to the dangers of potential hail,
can reduce a year's work to nothing.
So, as soon as it's possible,
the grapes are quickly harvested
with the aid of helicopters
when necessary.
Growing vines gave me inspiration
to make wine.
And it's a way of communicating.
To express yourself.
I think it's about sharing.
Wine-growers make wine and we're the representatives.
I'm kind of their ambassador.
Jérôme's a winner of the Ruinart competition for the best sommelier
in French-speaking Switzerland.
When we drink a glass of chasselas,
we know if the wine-grower is thin, fat, kind
or even nasty.
We don't learn wine from books.
It's what growers say.
It's what they communicate in their field, what they have made.
That's what you tell the customer.
That's what I try to do.
I explain the wine's from a special grape variety.
The grower enhanced it,
knew how to work with it in a fantastic way.
With this dish
you'll get a happiness which is almost heavenly
as it's a Lavaux which I think is close to paradise.
I am very happy here.
Lavaux ends at Vavay.
Growers traded in wine
for mountain pasture cheese.
A friendship between Swiss cheese makers
and wine-growers grew
when tasting wine and cheese together came about.
Moving away from Lake Geneva, the journey continues.
Mountainous areas get higher.
Behind a 1st rocky barrier,
a pleasant landscape
of deep valleys and mountain pastures.
Pays-d'Enhaut.
Cheese making is an ancestral art still practised today
in families.
Here is my small piece of paradise.
Every summer, Erika and Nicolas Rey come to the pasture Plan-Riond
with their cows.
It's summertime, which will last 4 months.
Work starts at sunrise with milking.
400 litres of milk are needed to make a round of cheese
or 12 litres for 1 kilo of cheese.
I didn't want to work in an office
as I don't like that kind of working environment.
It's not for me! I need space
and peace too.
Marie-Line, Erika's and Nicolas' daughter, helps her parents
along with the farmer boy.
Stop a minute!
Marie-Line, my daughter, wanted to be a farmer from the start.
It's true she loves it.
She's with the cows all the time.
She follows cow genetics etc...
Cheese is different from mountain pastures
to plains as they have natural grass.
Plants make cheeses taste differently. That's for certain.
And there are flowers.
For a slight hazelnut taste. It's so good.
The region's speciality is double cream too.
We often eat it with meringues.
To make Gruyere, we must skim it.
You only get that taste here.
Even on the plains it's different.
To make mountain pasture Gruyere,
the morning milk and evening milk
are mixed then poured into a copper vat.
Milk's then heated on a wood fire
until it reaches 32 degrees.
After adding the whey, a natural enzyme allowing the calf
to curdle and digest its mother's milk,
the liquid gradually solidifies.
Erika then mixes it with Marie-Line
until she gets particles
the size of wheat grain. A very delicate stage.
Nicolas and Erika transport curdled milk
in large pieces of cotton fabric to fill moulds.
Once pressed,
rounds of pasture Gruyere are stored in a cellar
for 5-8 months to mature.
This area really is paradise. Closer to our good Lord.
It's true, it's like a virus.
This place stays with you!
The town of Gruyere
gave its name to the famous cheese.
From grue (a crane), the bird, symbol of vigilance,
on the 1st coat of arms of the region's counts.
The castle and medieval city have dominated the Sarine valley
since the 11th century.
Lake of Gruyère marks the end of the Alpine foothills,
carving the fertile plains which extend north
towards the Jura mountains.
Less than 100km west of Gruyère, under the clouds,
Lake Neuchâtel is the largest Swiss lake.
Under the lake are traces of prehistoric dwellings,
a group of prehistoric remains
built between 5000 and 500 BC.
Of nearly 1,000 sites listed in central Europe,
111, half of which are in Switzerland, are registered
on Unesco's world heritage list.
These sites let us make
the link between hunter-gatherers
and the first European civilisations.
From Vevey, on one of the lake's banks, Géraldine Naters,
specialist in subaquatic archaeology
and Jean-Daniel Renaud are casting off.
They are studying the topography of these remains
dating from the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
In fact, the prehistoric villages were established
on the lakeside, on the lake's banks.
Then, gradually, as our research advanced,
we discovered they weren't on the water,
but the lake's water level was lower then,
and they were on the bank.
Discovered last century,
prehistoric alpine pile dwelling sites
enabled specialists to reconstitute lives of rural communities
from the 1st millennia BC.
The organic material used: wood, leather, fabric,
bone, were immersed,
staying sheltered from oxygen, bad weather and Man.
Water and sand have preserved this heritage site
until today.
Jean-Daniel Renaud invented a system allowing
topographical readings to be
made with precision.
Diving is a complement to archaeology.
I've been able to link a passion for diving,
with a job in archaeology
and do both at the same time.
That is what's interesting.
This new technology uses a differential GPS
which exceeds the reliability
of all systems currently used underwater.
A surface aerial receives positions by satellite.
Measurements are registered
and verified with GPS reference stations.
Measurements of immersed poles
make it possible to draw up a map of dwellings
with a margin of error of just a few cm.
What attracts me to water is being in another world.
We get different sensations
as we can only communicate using signals.
We're in a cocoon, in a bubble.
Like being in your mother's belly.
Still in the canton of Neuchâtel but in the high Jura valley,
farmers had to adapt to their environment.
Cut off each winter by snow
they spent winter evenings working with wood and iron.
In the 16th century, farmers from La Chaux-de-Fonds,
whose land was no longer enough to live off, learnt watchmaking
with craftsmen going from market to market.
In 1794, following a fire which destroyed the village,
its reconstruction was done according to a grid plan
where streets intersect at right angles.
The new town was positioned according to the sun,
speeding up snow thawing,
providing more light
to work in workshops adjoining houses.
The 19th century urban area of La Chaux-de-Fonds,
like Locle, a neighbouring town, are examples
of urbanism from a mono-industrial activity:
watchmaking.
Chaux-de-Fonds and Locle are part of
Unesco world heritage since 2009.
In 2002, Julien Dubois, from Chaux-de-Fonds,
set up his architectural firm there.
Here, architecture is designed to attract light.
Passionate about exploring the complexity of perspective,
Julien has a personal approach to his job.
With Chaux-de-fonds architecture the bay windows
are larger than on other buildings,
there's an interior-exterior connection.
Light is always omnipresent in projects.
Watchmakers had to have
enough light on workbenches
to make watches.
We see a development here
from east to west,
the bays get wider on the ground floor,
when they were initially on the top floor.
A craftsmanship.
The town continues to measure time with top of the range watchmaking,
with the most modernist
and expensive watches in the world,
coming out of the town's workshops today.
Architect Le Corbusier was born in La-Chaux-de Fonds,
he designed his 1st works in the Turkish Villa
at age 29.
This brick and concrete building
marked a mini architectural revolution: no supporting walls,
but 16 pillars holding up 4 slabs.
In La Chaux-de-Fonds, we must be inspired by Le Corbusier.
With this villa,
firstly one of the things I remember,
is it was a forerunner for many things.
It was new. It was inspired by his journeys.
Going for walks around La-Chaux-de-Fonds inspires me.
You can live here for several years
and discover things every day
a new light, shade, making
buildings exciting in a new way.
I don't think architects can be limited to an office
and be shut in all day.
It's omnipresent.
I defend the creative side. Architecture is an art.
And I defend that.
Always research, never fall into a daily routine.
That fears me the most
and I stress it to my employees.
"Be creative, we're architects, we are in a creative job."
Really pay attention to this light,
or the shade which will fall
both in the morning and evening.
It's important it's like that.
Here we see it from a bird's eye view.
Between tradition and modernism, innovation and necessity,
inhabitants of La-Chaux-de-Fonds knew how to get profit
from their 1000m high valley.
Leaving Swiss Jura behind us,
the journey continues towards Bernese Oberland
and its Alpine summits.
Lower down in Berne canton, mountains are milder
retaining water: Bienne Lake
surrounding St-Pierre island where Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived.
"Of all the homes I've lived in, none have made me
"so truly happy and left me with such regret
"as Saint-Pierre island." the philosopher wrote in
Reveries of a Solitary Walker.
Switzerland is a crossroads of many cultures.
Going up the river Aar,
we go into the German-speaking area.
Capital of Switzerland since 1848, Bern is registered
on the Unesco World Heritage list.
Qualified as an irreplaceable loss for the world should it disappear,
Bern's old town is one of the most
impressive Middle Age architectural sites.
In the streets of Bern, trapdoors with direct access to cellars
and arcades from the early 15th century
now house cafés and shops and
are one of the town's characteristics.
Above one of these arcades which runs for 6km
lived scientist Albert Einstein, at 49 Krammgasse street.
A stone's throw away
we can hear the tick of the 16th century astronomical clock.
Every hour, a golden Jacquemart sounds the bell.
A strike every hour.
Lower down, a circle of 7 bears
starts to turn representing the 7 days of the week.
Saint-Vincent collegiate
is Bern's most impressive gothic monument
and Switzerland's largest from the late Middle Ages.
The basilica and 100m high bell tower
dominate the roofs of Bern's old town.
Building started in 1421, and it took several generations
of the Bernese to complete it in 1893.
I take care to preserve historical heritage.
Marcel Maurer is one of those men who live
for their job.
A master artisan, every day he climbs
up the cathedral, more than 80m from the ground
to restore the stones at the top of the bell tower.
Like his predecessors,
he works for future generations.
Marcel Maurer must check the fragments of stone
and mortar are solidly stuck down to guarantee quality work
and to be sure no element will break away
and risk injuring visitors to the square.
Our guild, if we can call it that,
stone carvers and restorers,
have a well defined task:
preserving not only the Minster,
but all of Bern's old town and its history.
A considerable task.
What does the stone represent for me?
It's not lifeless.
It has its own character,
and if I want to do something,
I put passion into it.
It's not always as simple as that.
It's a privilege to work on what's here behind me.
When I look at the view,
it makes up for the bad weather,
the wind, the rain.
This view makes me forget any problems.
Balancing on the cliff, the Federal Palace,
with 3 copper domes turned green over time
is the HQ of the Swiss government
and the federal and Parliament Council, the Federal Assembly.
Bathing in the river Aar is a summer tradition
for the Bernese.
Letting themselves be carried by the current,
they do a tour of the old town meandering in the water flow.
Following the Aar, the river takes us
near to its source, Lake Thun.
The castle over Thun is the guardian
of one of the most important Alpine passages.
It marks the entrance to Bernese Oberland.
Here, the Aar separates in two crossing the town.
Water sports take place in front of the bridges
typical of central Swiss architecture.
I'm proud to work this machine.
Captain of Blümlisalp Thomas Henny,
knows Lake Thun perfectly.
It's different steering the
Blümlisalp compared to other ships.
Our star steamboat. One of the best
with Brienzersee and Lotschberg.
These steamboats are really distinctive.
It gives them charm.
Every day of the week, no matter what time,
the Captain welcomes passengers on his boat
before crossing the lake
to Interlaken.
Full steam ahead!
Thomas is in charge of boat trips in the narrow
channel into the lake.
The Blümlisalp is classed
"as Swiss cultural and national importance".
Castle Oberhofen, with its medieval keep
and turret, is one attraction on the journey.
As a boy, I sailed on this lake
as we had a sailing boat.
Lake Thun has always been my homeland.
From my childhood dream to becoming a captain
it took a 15-year apprenticeship.
I think, the boat's heart, is obviously its engine.
It was installed on board and put in service in 1906.
It's worked perfectly for over 100 years.
The region has attracted tourists since the 19th century.
Composer Johannes Brahms, dazzled by the light of
Lake Thun, spent 3 summers there,
one of which was in 1886.
Notably he composed there Sonata n°2 in F major,
then played in Vienna.
From Interlaken we leave the plains
for Aletsch Glacier surrounded by legendary summits,
Jungfrau and Eiger.
Aletsch Glacier, around 22km long,
is the most impressive Alpine ice river.
Water tower of Europe, nevertheless still very fragile,
hence being on Unesco's Heritage list
as "natural with exceptional universal value".
Swiss glaciers would keep melting
even if global warming stopped.
As glaciers react decades later
to changes in temperature.
Aletsch will have lost at least 4km
and a third of its mass in a century.
The train from Jungfrau crosses the heart of the
mountain goes to Europe's highest station
Jungfraujoch, 3,454m high.
A spectacular view over the glacier and Alpine giants,
Eiger and Mönch.
I take care of the well-being of my guests.
Hanging onto the mountain, refuge Mönchsjoch
dominates the glacier at 3,650m high.
Its keeper, Christian Alemer welcomes mountaineers
whatever the time of day or night.
When his partner is away
he makes dinner
for mountain dwellers. Some leave at 2am
for a long, testing trek.
The boiling temperature of water depends on atmospheric pressure,
and it's lower in the mountains.
At this altitude, water boils at around 80°C.
Therefore you must allocate more time to cook food.
I stay around 2 months here, July and August,
at a height of 3,650m without ever going lower.
I feel great here.
I'll stay here as long as my body lets me.
Working in the valley no longer interests me.
After a short night
Christian prepares breakfast for mountaineers.
Every day
when the sun rises
he takes time to admire the landscape
and observe the slow progression made on the snowy summits
by the refuge's departing customers.
Sometimes I only sleep 2 hours, but we must make do.
Also, during the day, around 400 tourists come per day
to join the shelter from Jungfraujoch.
Everything must be kept well.
Sorted waste must be taken by helicopter
to the bottom of the valley.
Supplying the refuge with fresh food and water
is also done by helicopter.
A dangerous manoeuvre requiring
an experienced pilot and Christian who guides him.
We ensure this ice world stays clean
so the next generation can also find this world
in perfect condition.
After high peaks,
the journey continues along the Alps,
towards Lake Lucerne.
Mount Pilatus overlooks Lucerne and the small town of Stans.
These mountains fuelled inhabitants' fears
for centuries,
as legend had it Pontius Pilate was buried there
and his anger provoked deadly storms.
Plane manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft at the
foot of the mountain got its name from the legend.
I achieve Icarus's dreams.
Reto Aeschlimann is a test pilot and uses technical knowledge
to help design planes.
He also participates in reliability tests carried out on land.
The secret to our success is the quality of our planes.
We try hard to manage all aspects of the chain in Stans,
in Switzerland,
from design to development
up until final quality checks.
Reto works in direct collaboration
with a team of technicians.
Pilatus planes are designed to take off and land
on very short spaces of uneven land,
on mountains as well as on scrubland.
We currently employ 102 apprentices,
in 10 different professions, who we train in these different jobs.
We look to teach expertise and skills
accumulated by us over the decades
so they remain preserved and are
passed on to young generations.
Today over 800 people work in Stans
manufacturing single-engine turbo-propelled planes.
Reto gives advice to young apprentices
who have the same dream as him: to fly.
Like lots of other kids, I wanted to become a pilot.
I was lucky to do it
after a long selection process and years of training.
Then to climb to the top of the scale.
It really is a great job.
Even after 40 years, I'm still happy doing it.
We also live Icarus's dream
from an emotional point of view.
It's here, above Lake Lucerne
where the 1st part of this journey comes to an end.
Subtitles: ECLAIR MEDIA
At the heart of Europe,
nestled between the Alpine summits.
Switzerland is known for its prosperity,
neutrality, tourism,
and its history is surprising.
Its many glaciers and 175 natural lakes
make it Europe's water tower.
This multilingual country is a mosaic
holding incredible historic and geographical sites.
11 are UNESCO world heritage sites.
2nd Part - Crossing the Alps
The 2nd part
takes us from Saint-Gall, in the Eastern German region
to the Italian border between Lugano and le Val Mustair.
Travelling north to south
with a gamekeeper from Sardona,
the last inhabitant of the Bellinzone castle,
and a Benedictine nun
at the Mustair convent in Grisons.
Saint-Gall, on the banks of Lake Constance,
between Germany, Austria, and Lichtenstein is named
for the monk who founded a hermitage in the 7th century
where the cathedral stands today.
From the 8th through 19th centuries,
the Saint Gall Benedictine monastery, with its Carolinian abbey
was very important.
Saint Gall is the cradle of embroidery
and textiles.
Many bourgeois homes,
built between the 16th and 18th centuries
bear witness to the drapers' wealth.
Their facades are adorned with over 100 oriels,
corbelled, decorated windows,
like in a theatre.
The oriels let in more light
and allow you to see
what's happening outside.
the fine painted sculptures adorning them
are secular and religious
and depend on the owner's wealth.
In the 18th century, the Carolinian abbey
was replaced by the current cathedral,
a Baroque jewel.
The monastery
holds work from the original library,
in the most beautiful Rococo room.
This room includes one of the most incredible
collections of Medieval manuscripts,
including the oldest architectural plans on parchment.
The Saint Gall abbey has been a world heritage site
since 1983.
My job is linking the past to the future.
Digitalizing over 160,000 works that are irreplaceable
began in 2006.
Photographer Urs Baumann
has worked on preserving them for years.
These manuscripts are so valuable.
The abbey library has a lot of them,
some are very ancient.
Pieces of manuscript from 500 AD.
Few people are lucky enough to touch these.
These old manuscripts are so unique.
Each is a little different.
All of these old manuscripts were written on parchment.
Parchment feels very different from paper today.
What's interesting
is we have a historic library downstairs,
with very old manuscripts and books,
and we're working with very sophisticated material.
Special equipment lets us copy the manuscripts
very carefully.
Today we have more visitors, including from abroad,
on our website than at the Saint Gall library
itself.
For scientists around the world,
it's more practical
to look at them on the website,
than travel to Saint Gall
to read them in the reading room.
By following the grey heron migrating through Switzerland
to the south
we'll follow the Alps and the source of the Rhine.
This 1,200 km river takes its source in Lake Toma,
2,345 m high, in the canton of Grisons,
before crossing Switzerland,
Austria, Germany, the Netherlands.
The Tamina river joins
the bed of the Rhine near the Bad Ragaz resort.
In the Tamina gorges,
water with therapeutic benefits springs from
the mountain at 37 degrees.
During the 13th century
pilgrims came in hopes of healing.
Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelse
was the first, in 1535,
to prove the benefits of the water from the Tamina river.
He began thermal springs tourism.
Water is a source of life, since the world began.
Diana Lake is in charge of the thermal baths
at Bad Ragaz.
Thermal baths are everywhere in Europe.
But Bad Ragaz goes back very far.
Before, they were only for the elite, but that changed.
Now they're public.
Our thermal water is special.
It's from Piz Sardona and crosses the Alps for 14 years
before coming out here, at 36.5° C.
It's been famous for centuries.
Its high temperature opens your pores,
and the water has a healing effect.
Each morning, Diana checks
the water quality and cleanliness of the pools
before opening the baths to the public.
After studying in Germany,
Diana came to work at the baths,
bringing a practice
taken from traditional sauna culture.
Continuing our trip eastward, we reach the town of Elm,
at the bottom of the Sernf valley,
surrounded by huge peaks including Piz Sardona,
at 3,056 m.
Twice a year, the sunlight precisely hits
the Elm bell tower, when it crosses the Martinsloch gap,
1,000 m higher.
This region, over 300 km2 around Sardona,
has more than geological
thrust,
it explains how the Alps were formed
and the phenomenon of tectonic plates.
Normally, young rocks are under old ones.
But right here, in the Glarus Alps, the opposite happened.
The African and European plates, moving together
lifted a lot of older rocks
which went over the younger ones.
In 2008, this region was named a world heritage site
under the name "Swiss Tectonic Area Sardona",
for its decisive contribution to understanding mountain formation.
Nature is my office.
Local Michel Froiler is the gamekeeper in the Elm valley.
Both continents moving shaped several mountain chains
in abstract shapes,
made of abrupt rocks or rounded hills.
Being a gamekeeper requires a lot of love.
You have to like working and travelling alone.
You might just have the dog as company.
Here we can watch animals
and work in the nature around us.
With some patience,
you can admire one of 4 species of European vultures,
lammergeyers,
royal eagles, chamois and ibexes.
Everything you see
is part of Europe's oldest fauna reserve.
It was created in 1548.
Back then they were protecting game from extermination.
People were hungry and killed the animals
at random.
They realized,
and made the Freiberg EPF area protected.
When you are on the border areas
on the peaks,
the rocks are so different, like having 1 foot in Europe
and, in a way, the other in Africa.
Heidi is from Grisons.
It is also
the site of one of the most spectacular railways on earth.
The train's journey includes incredible views
on the eastern Alps mountain chain.
Both train lines, Albula and Bernina,
the name of the mountain passes date from the 1900s,
the golden age of mountain rail.
Almost 200 bridges and 50 tunnels
are an unparalleled technical masterpiece.
This railway masterpiece
in Albula and Bernina is worthy
of being included
on the UNESCO world heritage list since 2008.
At the bottom of the valley, Coire,
which dates to 2500 BC,
is Switzerland's oldest city.
Every morning, a tourist train
leaves its station, travelling 67 km
on the Albula line.
Vera Rudolf drives this line, which ends
in Saint-Moritz.
She knows it by heart.
People love this daring trip,
built in harmony
with nature, over a century ago.
It's nice to look at, and interesting to take.
It's one of the steepest railways on earth
with extreme slopes, without cogs.
For me, these landscapes are so beautiful.
To cross peaks and valleys,
They had to build bridges, covered galleries, tunnels.
Daring solutions, imagined by man.
A technical prowess destined from the start
to bring tourists and serve winter sporting resorts
which also appeared during that era.
You can leave Coire, and it's 25 degrees,
then find winter conditions in Bernina.
Even see snow.
Then you come back down to summer conditions.
But it doesn't matter when you drive the train.
I'm proud to drive a tourist train.
Especially one so prestigious
as the Glacier Express or Bernina Express.
I'm happy to show them my beautiful country.
One thing I really love
is driving trains from Ratische Bahn,
it's not like driving a metro
bringing people to work in the morning.
People are frowning, instead of smiling.
After 2 hours,
the Albula line reaches Saint Moritz,
its terminus.
Vera just takes the train back the other way
to go home.
From Saint-Moritz,
one of the oldest winter sports resorts
we climb higher,
toward Lake Lugano, further south,
on the Italian border, stopping by Lake Sils.
On a 1,800 m high plateau,
Lake Sils is on the line between the waters
of the Maloja pass,
where the Maloja wind always blows,
and where Nietzsche spent several summers.
Past the Alpine San Bernardino pass, at 2,065 m high,
we reach Bellinzone, between the rough Alpine regions
and the fertile Italian plains,
where forts were built during the 15th century
as both an obstacle in the Alps and key to Italy.
The horizon of the canton capital of Tessin
is made up of 3 Medieval castles.
Perched on the rocky hill,
the 1st of 3 castles is also the newest.
It's the Sasso Corbaro, a 15th century duke's fortress.
Then, we have the Montebello castle, built in the late 18th century.
Finally, the Castelgrande is the oldest.
The first Castelgrande fort
dates from the 6th century.
The castle rises on a point
in a deep valley linking the north
and south of Europe.
Its strategic location
has made it desirable,
especially to the Swiss troops,
when it belonged to the Duchy of Milan.
Finally, the Italians were chased out by the French
who were expelled by the citizens of Bellinzone
who joined the Confederation.
Peace with France signed in 1516 granted them
territory in the current canton of Tessin.
I live and work in a historic castle.
Luciano Rossi is the guard and sole inhabitant, with his family,
of Castelgrande.
Without a ford to signal potential enemies,
he watches the entrance for the first visitors.
You can imagine how they lived 200 or 300 years ago.
Those who did this before me.
They were guards. It was serious.
There was always someone watching the area.
They didn't have heat or the modern things I have.
You can say we have an advantage now.
Work was harder.
When I moved into the castle apartment
my two daughters were still young.
One was 2, the other was 10.
They'd go to school and say:
"I live in a castle."
They told stories about fairies, kings, queens.
The Castelgrande castle, with Montebello and Sasso Corbaro
and the city walls
were named a world heritage site in 2000.
Exhibits, seminars, performances
held here provide funding
to restore Castelgrande.
The Bellinzone forts are now
among the mot significant examples
of Medieval military architecture in the Alpine region.
A unique example of a site's evolution
along with conflict.
On the southern end of Tessin
is Lake Lugano, which is part of both
Switzerland and Italy.
The mild Mediterranean climate
is perfect for trees, including citrus and palm.
German writer Hermann Hesse, a Nobel Prize winner in 1946,
spent half his life in Montagnola, not far from the lake.
On the north shore
is the city of Lugano,
8 km from Italy.
Lugano is the economic capital of Italian Switzerland.
Bathed by Lake Lugano,
near the peaks of Monte Bre,
covered by chestnut forests,
Gandria is a fishing village.
Its customs and smuggling museum
is from a time when villagers
lived off of small-scale smuggling, being close to Italy.
100 years later, nothing has changed.
Gandria is far from tourist routes where life is good.
With its torturous streets, craggy steps,
closed courtyards, and arcades,
the town's residents have preserved their homes.
A good day
is living, working, fishing in a town like Gandria,
a slice of paradise in our country.
At the crack of dawn, the fishermen get ready.
They like the cool air, before the sun rises.
It's the best time
to catch perch and trout in the lake.
For me, a good town is a place you can live well.
We have a restaurant, it is great.
Stress-free.
Instead of leaving home angry, you're happy.
Fishing is a great sport.
It's a fishing village. For a long time,
Gandria lived off of fishing.
But many people later left the profession.
A small country on the rocks.
Many years ago, the town was higher.
People came down to the shore.
It was too tiring to bring water up high.
I'm not a great fisherman.
But Robbi is much better. He taught me everything.
He knows the good spots.
Back on dry land, as compensation
Peter and Robbi will dine on perch filets
for breakfast.
Gandria should stay how it is, no cars.
Only reachable by boat and bus.
Steps from Lake Lugano,
Monte San Giorgio is a small mountain, special
for having preserved
thousands of reptile, fish, and insect fossils.
200 million years ago
the continents were starting to break apart,
and there was a 100 m deep lagoon with a subtropical climate.
This is a UNESCO world heritage site
as it shows a major stage in the history
of the earth and life.
I'm rebuilding life history described in the earth layers.
Professor Rudolf Stockar,
who maintains the Lugano natural history museum
is the palaeontologist
in charge of scientific research here.
The first digs on Monte San Giorgio
were in 1924.
It's one of the most important places
for the history of evolution.
At first the digs were more widespread.
They were focused
on the most impressive pieces.
They were focused on big marine reptiles,
major discoveries which made the place famous.
These reptiles show the uniqueness of San Giorgio.
They made it important worldwide.
Today we focus on its layers.
We don't look for big fossils now.
We try to find traces of life
within the layers.
We look to interpret the elements.
For example, bacteria life.
It played an important role in preserving big fossils.
These were covered in a bacteria film,
like a tapestry.
It was like a shroud.
Once extracted, the fossils must be prepared.
Removed from their matrix.
Sometimes we have to be quick
to know what it is for the excavation.
The head, the tail.
It's a fish.
Perfectly preserved.
The head, the skull.
These are the most significant parts for studying these fish.
The head is here, under the rocky matrix.
The tail is also covered, here.
We'll prepare and study it
to get the details.
Preliminary classification.
This is another example of finds here,
one of the fish found during a dig.
A fish of a certain size belonging to a group not often studied.
In a building in the small commune of Meride,
transformed by local architect Mario Botta,
the Monte San Giorgio fossil museum
has a unique collection of fossilized plants and animals
from the area.
In his field laboratory,
Rudolf very carefully checks and cleans
his latest finds of the day.
It was an awful place to live.
There wasn't much oxygen underwater.
But it was the perfect spot to die and be preserved.
The entire area was made of different environments,
each one had its specific animals finish in the rock.
We're leaving the sunny lakeshore
for the harsh climate in the valley of Engadine,
a region called "pearl of the Alps"
in the southeast.
Separated from Engadine by the Ofen pass,
Val Mustair includes 6 Grisons communes
including the town of Tschierv.
In Tschierv, the tradition of winemaking
continues, since 200 years ago.
I'm just continuing the work Mother Nature started
in Val Mustair.
At the forest's edge, Gisella and Luciano
Beretta's farm
has the highest distillery in the Alps.
There are plants, flowers that only grow here,
in Val Mustair.
There's pure water, the best in Switzerland.
A clear sky, clean air.
For us, it's a special place, and we just
harvest nature and bottle it.
We chose places where animals can't ruin the prairies.
We can pick 170 varieties of plants.
The nature is unlimited.
Here, everything is possible and impossible.
We don't have a lot of fruits for the distillery,
but we do have a lot of herbs, roots, flowers.
We harvest plants that we need,
including to give products flavour until distilling.
My work is here, in my little witch house.
That's how I call it.
But I don't have my husband's golden hands.
It started with a still 40 years ago in Tessin.
We started, and continue
a family tradition that began in 1792.
We restored the still,
and I realized we had to go further.
My wife helped transform it.
It was the best thing we've done, as far as the distillery is concerned.
Wheat is grown lower,
in the valley, and soaked in spring water
to bring out the flavor, before fermentation.
Gisella adds herbal essences,
mountain wildflowers
to give the liquor
a delicate flavor.
When the product leaves Lucio's still,
it's always a surprise.
What will it taste like?
It's never the same, but always good.
That, for sure.
The Val Mustair cellar
has 20 rare liquors.
The couple collects prizes, 29 gold medals,
including distillation of the year
and best brandy in Switzerland in 2012.
We're living a dream.
Big things come from a dream.
Without fantasy, nothing grows.
My wife is incredible.
People say we're crazy.
Even today, we hear: "You're crazy!"
But if we're crazy,
it's in a good way.
In the papers, you can read what we've done.
And we like the name they gave us.
It's like a caress.
Moving down the winding path,
we arrive at the Saint Jean des Sœurs convent in Mustair.
The convent was built in 780,
away from the world, under Charlemagne,
during a period of monastic revival.
The convent was built on a strategic axis,
in the 10th century, they built a defensive tower.
It's the oldest tower preserved in the Alps.
The first Carolinian church murals date from the 9th century.
They were partly covered with a Roman fresco
3 centuries later.
All were remarkably preserved,
and so the convent
was classified a world heritage site
as a unique example of a culture that disappeared.
The Saint Jean convent
was first for men, and used by nuns in the 12th century.
12 nuns live according to Benedict of Nursie
who founded the Benedictine order.
The motto is "ora et labora",
"pray and work".
I voluntarily go to other people. I want contact with them.
There's something good in each person.
The mother superior Dominica de Tomas
is native to the valley.
This convent fascinated me as a child.
But differently than today,
as an adult.
I'd already felt something special in the church.
Later, I said it came from a monastic spirit
that you feel around us and in this place.
For centuries, men speak to God in this church,
and that gave it a very unique atmosphere.
To me, it's dedicated to prayer.
The sisters grow their vegetables and harvest fruit in the orchard
for the monastery's needs.
They grow flowers, aromatic and medicinal plants,
they sell for teas.
From day one, this community felt right.
This is like my house.
A 2nd home.
Today, this is
like a gift from God.
I really feel the past.
It's like the objects around me speak to me.
All these walls, these facades, these objects
have been here so long,
they express the words I'd like to understand.
It's probably a feeling from within,
already in me.
If I had a wish,
I'd like for magically
young women to join our convent again.
Leaving with new hope, with the word of God,
being born again, fully, in this house.
Then we could take our path to the future,
calmly, with ora et labora,
pray and work.
Here, on the Italian border,
we'll end our trip to Home Swiss Home.
Subtitles: ECLAIR MEDIA