Pale · Cast

I've just returned from an enchanted four days in Switzerland, visiting my old school friend Rachel, who lives in Geneva. We travelled by train into the Swiss Italian Alps and spent two extraordinary days walking in the mountains and valleys. The forests were still leafless, though the sense of the imminent blossoming was tangible. Silent, eerie birchwoods, boulders covered in emerald moss, wild rivers, perfect villages of tiny flint cottages - winding paths taking us up and down stone stairways, past shrines and miniature churches. It was a magical time - full of curious encounters and fortuitous meetings. The landscape was astonishingly beautiful - so many wild, romantic chasms, unexpected pools of turquoise water, snow-helmed mountains, tiny spring flowers. This church, up a mountain, is dedicated to the Snow Madonna. It was marvellous beyond words.