BIENVENUE A RIANTE VALLEE (Welcome to Riante Valley)

In summer, the Mont-Blanc Massif sees the stealthy silhouettes of crystal-makers in search of a kind of Grail: rock crystal. There are less than a dozen of them in the Chamonix region, unearthing these translucent stones that lie dormant at the heart of the steepest rock faces, in cracks and cavities that crystal-cutters call “ovens”. … Continued