Traveling along the French-Swiss border: from Altkirch to Briancon.
The establishment of the European Union has brought two direct benefits to the people: unified currency (except Switzerland) and the abolition of borders. On this trip, we drove directly from Hamburg to the famous French holiday destination Briancon near the Alps. We passed through Italy and Switzerland on the way, and I, with a Chinese passport, could pass without any obstacles and without a visa.
Altkirch belongs to France, but it has an authentic German name. From this, it can be seen that this place used to belong to Germany and was occupied by France after Germany was defeated in World War I. After entering France from Germany, all the small villages and towns along the way have typical German names, which makes people sigh: the people in the past were too bitter, they changed their masters several times, and they had to learn French and German, and they were not at peace! Of course, there are also benefits. Many people are proficient in both languages! We visited Geneva, Switzerland along the way. It is backed by high mountains and faces a huge lake. Many sailboats sail on the lake, and the scenery along the lake is very charming! But when you go deep into the city, it's quite boring! The houses are tall and clean, with uniform colors, similar architectural structures, neat city appearance, and orderly, as if you have come to a certain factory! We stayed for a few hours and drove to our destination Briancon.