Dauphiné, Savoie

From the Rhone valley eastward the land rises quickly to the Alpine heights of Dauphiné and Haute Savoie, two provinces which separate France from Italy and Switzerland. From the fortress town of Nyons in the south to the waters of Évian in the north, the mountains make life rugged and austere. While a few of the gastronomic specialties of lowland Dauphiné have climbed to mountain cities like Grenoble and to famous spas and ski resorts, the ordinary Alpine fare is heavy, crude, often coarse and tasteless, and very monotonous.