The Alps were formed by the collision of the African and Eurasian plates in the last 30 million years and form part of the same chain of mountains as the Himalayas. When the winter snow-cover melts, prehistoric remains are abundant, ranging from Triassic fossils to the early Bronze-age ice-mummy, Ötzi.
Briançon (pictured below), the highest city in the EU, is 4350 feet above sea level. Occupied since (at least) the Roman era, the heart of the town is a medieval fortification protected as a UNESCO world heritage site.
