If you drive south and west out of Cuneo and climb into the Val Varaita, following the river up past the last farms until the valley narrows and the road seems to be heading straight into the mountains, you eventually reach Chianale, sitting at the head of it all like a full stop.
It is very nearly the final scrap of Italy before the peaks hand you over to France: a hamlet of the municipality of Pontechianale, perched at around 5,900 feet, with the Colle dell’Agnello, one of the highest paved passes in the Alps at nearly 9,000 feet, just beyond it.
