Today we left Switzerland and hiked to France. And it was a doozy. We hiked straight up to Col du Balme, a high mountain pass that sits on the border of Switzerland and France. We were up about 7,200 feet. We left charming Trient on a relatively warm morning. But, as anyone who hikes mountainous regions …
Continue reading Mont Blanc Trek – Day 5. Hiking from Switzerland to France way up high!
The fourth day of the trek brought us to a beautiful little village called Trient, still in Switzerland. We hiked 12 miles and it was a great day. A highlight was lunch at the Auberge Bovine. “Auberge” means :small inn” in France. This place was in the middle of a pasture, up 6,500 feet, and …
Continue reading Mont Blanc Trek: Day 4. Lunch in a pasture and a stop in Trient, Switzerland
The third day of our fabulous Mont Blanc trek brought the best news yet: no more rain. It was cold that Tuesday morning. But it wasn’t raining. Nor sleeting. Nor snowing. We left La Fouly, Switzerland, and hiked to Champex-Lac, still in Switzerland, 11 miles away. The morning after the stormy day, getting ready to …
Continue reading Mont Blanc Trek – Day 3: A walk through Swiss villages and a night at the lake
The second day of the trek turned into a day without much trekking. Our guide Neil told us the night before that the weather was going to be bad today. I thought “Hmm, that’s OK. I’ve got my layers, I’ve got a good rain jacket…” What I didn’t bring were rain pants nor a pair …
Continue reading Mont Blanc Trek: Day 2. A cold, rainy, snowy morning upends plans.
Did you ever go on a vacation and then come home and start looking at photos and think, “What? Did we really do that?” That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing since I got back from trekking around Mont Blanc, the massive mountain range with parts in France, Italy and Switzerland. Its highest point is …
Continue reading Trekking around Mont Blanc: Six days of Spectacular Views, Challenging Climbs
Our last day was warm and sunny, the perfect end to a great week of cycling. Save for that dumb, rainy day, we lucked out with the weather: jackets in the morning, short sleeves in the afternoon. The ride was a loop around Gavi with a stop for lunch and visit at the Fausto Coppi …
The fifth day of the trip took us from Cremolino to Gavi, a village and a beautiful wine region. We said arrivederci to Casa Margherita and started out on a 33.5- mile ride that took us through more rolling hills with vineyards. The ride, of course, was every adjective I’ve used to this point: tough, …
Continue reading Cycling in Piedmont: Day Five. Welcome to Gavi and a Farinata Lunch
Our fourth day of the Piedmont sojourn was sunny and bright with a delicious lunch at an agriturismo in a vineyard and three short steep climbs and more than three other long climbs. So it was just a typical day. Don holds the day's itinerary. We started from our lovely accommodations at Casa Margherita, where …
Day three of the Piedmont bike trip turned into quite an interesting day. We had a 47-mile trek, long climbs, steep climbs, a wipeout on an invisible oil slick and an Italian couple who came to the aid of one of the group. And it rained. The ride was long because we left Alba and went …
Itinerary for the day We started the second day of the Piedmont bike tour with a truffle hunting excursion in the woods. Tour leader Cristiano Bonino introduced us to a longtime dog trainer, puppy-in-training in tow, and we learned how they train, how they introduce the dog to truffles (put pieces in their food) and …
Continue reading Cycling in Piedmont: Day Two. Truffle Hunting and a Trip to Barolo
1cannolo, 2cannoli 