Month: April 2025

Varzo, Ossolo Valley day 2

We had a really nice day today. We started with a great breakfast at our B&B,

Breakfast
The B&B where we are staying

Then we drove up the valley east of where we are staying almost to the Swiss border in the high alps. It was a wonderful drive narrow, lots of switch backs, one lane roads and stunning scenery.

The road through the mountains

We wanted to hike to Lago delle Streghe. We hiked almost a mile up the trail but there was too much snow and we decided to turn around.

Our starting point
Our turn around point

It was cold, windy and sunny. It was so much fun. On the way back we stopped to enjoy the views and have a coffee.

Waterfall on the way back
Coffee break

Back in Varzo we went to the opening of the town festival. Each neighborhood has different colors. All the houses are decorated. First there was a procession to the church to ask the the priest to join the parade, and then to the town hall to invite the mayor to join.

After the procession through town there was a race around a short course through town. Each neighborhood has two men carry a sled with a cut-out of a donkey on it. One team carried the donkey and then the next and so on until all 10 neighborhoods had run. We don’t know who won. But it was a lot of fun to watch. Finally there was dinner and a concert in a big tent. We didn’t stay for that.

Procession
One of the racers
The dinner and concert tent

Then we went back to Il Negozio where we ate last night and had a wonderful meal.

Duke’s pork shank

Saint-Vincent, Acosta Valley to Varzo, Ossola Valley

Today we drove south, then east, and then north to the Ossola Valley on the Swiss – Italian border. The mountains here are so beautiful. Tonight we are just five miles from the border with Switzerland.

Outside our hotel this morning

Our drive today took us past Lago Maggione. I was at a Sun Microsystems, European wokplace group, management meeting on lake Maggione in 2000. It was Shannon’s 16th birthday so I took her with me. It was fun to see this beautiful spot again almost twenty years later.

First we stopped for groceries
We stopped to walk along the lake a bit
It looked very stormy at the north end of Lago Maggiore where we were heading next

Tonight we are staying at a little B&B, Chalet II Picchio in Varzo

The view from the balcony of our B&B

For dinner we went to the center of the village and had a marvelous meal at Il Negozio Wine Restaurant.

Inside I’ll Negozio
We started with pasta with a mushroom sauce
Then I had beef with a pepper sauce
Duke had pork cheeks
Blueberry Semifreddo for desert

We were waited on by a very nice woman who I assumed was one of the owners. She gave us a bottle of the same wine that we had for dinner (she said it was from her winery) to take with us. It was a wonderful dinner and experience.

Monêtier Les Bains, France to Saint-Vincent, Acosta Valley, Italy

We had a wonderful day with perfect weather. It was about 32 f/0 c when we woke up.

The view from our window this morning

By the time we checked out and drove up the road to the trailhead for our hike it was around 50 f. We hiked on the trail to Lac de La Douche. We decided to only go up the trail about 2 miles and then turn around.

We hiked up this valley
There were a few places where there was snow on the trail.
There were flowers everywhere
Close up of one of the flowers.

The trail wasn’t steep but it was constantly up and we did about 860 feet of elevation gain. It was a practically perfect hike.

After our hike we drove into Italy to the Acosta Valley just south of the Matterhorn where we are staying at the Parc Hotel Billia. The drive took just under 3 hours. We checked out the hotel casino, broke even and had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant.

The restaurant
We shared the Purple cabbage flan with pecorino cheese to start. It was really tasty and good.
Fresh caserecci pasta in light carbonara with zucchini and pork
Spicy chicken with roast potatoes
Fruit tart to share for desert

Lyon to Monêtier Les Bains

Today we planned to pick up our rental car number 3 at about 1:30. We didn’t want to pick it up too early because on the last day of our 9 day rental, when we return the car to Lyon, we have a 3 and a half hour drive.

First thing this morning we had another perfect French breakfast

Coffee, croissant, pain au raisin and chocolate croissant. Yum!

Then we went for a walk along the two rivers that come together in Lyon.

A map of the sights in Lyon
The Rhône

At noon we checked out of our hotel and walked the mile and a half to the rental car office at the Gare Part-Dieu. The most direct route to get there is through a large shopping mall. There are Westfield malls in California. I didn’t realize that they have them in France too.

Westfield shopping mall

We stopped in the mall for a coffee break so we wouldn’t get to the car rental office too early.

Brioche coco and a pain au raisin

At 1:30 we picked up the car and drove out of Lyon into the French alps

At Col du Lautaret, the mountain pass on our route today.

Tonight we are in the town of Monêtier-Les-Bains at Hôtel Le Monêtier. This is a ski resort town. The nearby lifts are part of the Serra Chevalier ski area. Of course it is spring and the resort is closed. We had a great dinner in the hotel restaurant.

The view from our room.
My entrecôte, salad and fries

Lyon day 2

We were in Lyon for two days almost exactly six years ago. We saw all the sites and had a marvelous time. That meant that on this trip we could just enjoy the experience of being in a beautiful French city on a perfect spring morning. So we went for a long walk. We started out with croissants and coffee. I absolutely love French croissants.

Breakfast

Then we walked all over town and crossed the Saône River four times.

Strolling among the art stalls along the river
The Saône River

Of course we had a coffee break mid morning.

Coffee and croissants

Eventually we headed back to the hotel for a rest.

Vendors on our walk back to the hotel

This evening we thought we might have dinner at a Lyon Jazz club. It was about a mile away. When we got there there were no seats so we decided to find someplace else to eat.

La Clef de Voûte Jazz Club

Walking back to the hotel we found a restaurant that looked inviting. It was only when we were seated that we realized that it was a Chinese restaurant. We had a very good and enjoyable meal.

Dinner
Dinner at Nouyeah

We had originally thought we might have dinner at the restaurant we ate at last time we were here, La Maison Marie. In my blog post I described it as one of the best meals of our trip. Unfortunately it is permanently closed. So we couldn’t eat there again. It was only towards the end of our meal at Nouyeah that I noticed the restaurant name on the evacuation plan over the door, what a coincidence!

Apparently Nouyeah where we ate tonight is in the La Maison Marie location!