Author: Tim Digger

23km and a bit up and down. The Aosta valley has finished we have entered Piedmont with it’s white on red cross (plus or minus a blue border), passed the moraines damming the lakes near Ivrea, and seen the exit of the Dora Baltea from it’s confining corsetry.
Most of the day was spent traversing the lanes connecting the vineyards,which are all made up in the same manner.
Small areas of flat land have been excavated out of the rocky landscape and filled with vines on pergolas held up by characteristic tapering stone pillars which apparently retain heat for the tender plants.
When not constructing vineyards the locals clearly spent their time building chapels or castles on inaccessible crags.
We manage a beer stop at an outdoor climbing centre and get a gratuitous pot of peanuts with a spoon and some round bread things to power us up the next hill.
And Ray finally gets shift of the apples he’s been carrying since Aosta at a lunch stop under the watchful eye of a Saint Rocco by a scrapyard.
The long descent to Ivrea with distant views of glacial lakes through some woods brings us to tonight’s lodgings in the Canoe Club in Ivrea.
We watch canoeists practising on the river as our socks dry in the afternoon sun.

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19km maybe 200m up and 300m down
We did not actually stay in Verres last night even with a shrine to St Roche on the main street, but in a small village Issogne, on the other side of the river with one small shop and a plethora of little alleys. The day dawn’s bright and blue and it is supposed not to rain. The mountains are still white!
We get bread and a jar of jam from the alimentaire next to the bar and start by 8.30. Back across the river , a day of road rail and river crossings as we walk down the valley in the autonomous region of Aosta with its black and red bipartite flag. It has a lion sticking it’s tongue out on it’s coat of arms!
The day I’d perfect for walking and most remove fleeces and trouser bottoms. We pass two more presses and go through the village of Arnad famed for it’s pig products, it takes us a while to work this out as the notice boards suggest it is famous for lard! Which seems a bit odd.
Passing down the valley we get to a bar in Hône jokes about being home abound. But as well as biera we get a few bits of pizza and a load of the local dark bread. Recipe from a notice board after includes figs raisins walnuts and chestnuts. 50:50 wheat and rye flours. It was good.
The bridge between Hône and Bard gives views of the Forte di Bard high above it was built just after the Battle of Marengo in a Napoleonic Brutalist style (that’s made up but it ought to be true) and never saw fighting. It now has a funicular that was probably not part of the original design. We climb up through the town to the church below the fort and then descend down by a fast flowing canal to the old Roman road still in recognisable condition.
The very straight road between this point and Pont St Martin is tedious and we finally settle for sandwiches below the old bridge the original Roman one built in the 1stC CE and the best preserved in northern Italy.
Marching swiftly onwards we find the huge spatious hostel atop the town hall and registry office. There is a wedding tonight but in a new modern block there may not be the same traditions of the wedding night as in Caceres on the Via de la Plata.

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There is light at the end of the valley!
Even leaving out the aberrancy of the Met Office it was still forcast as a bad day. We started in rain at 0900 and rain continued till about 12.15. It was also steeply up out of town past the multi coloured arrows on the familiar 103.
The route is well signposted with yellow signs giving routes as either T or E,T turns out to mean tourist and easy,E turns out to stand for e by eck this a tad steep and we go up and down all day on E.
We are on the south facing side of the valley with a route between very steep vineyards and small hamlets and woods.
The well named Pissin Dessous village has a fine old wine press.
After a couple of hours we stagger,dripping into the Funicular Cafe in St Vincent for cappucini, the church had excellent frescoes,allegedly,we never found the light switch. But opposite a door to the Thermes has rather fine sea serpents on the door.
A little while later and the skies began to clear,looking up the valley it was snow an winter whilst down the valley it was blue skies and summer. We are directed by the signs along the way to very old ?Roman ? Earlier cart ruts in solid rock apparently this is a very ancient route.
Birds began to sing and swallow-tail and orange tip butterflies appeared.
Eventually we descended to the valley floor and marched into town.
Tonight’s lodging in Maison Cassius turns out to be close to a bar where we get given grissini and cheese with our beer,oh the joys of a pilgrim life.
It’s not all good of course, I seem to have selected fizzy red wine from the supermarket again!

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We forgot to mention that we were joined by a Buster today. A dog who delights in walking away from home with pilgrims. He was perfectly friendly and wandering with us until spotted by two sets of locals who stopped and talked to us?!?
Shortly followed by an owner in another car who enticed his dog back and drove off. The only occasion we have been deprived of a buster.

Also thanks to Jim and Noline who sent us details from Wiki about St Grat or Gratus and John the Baptist head. He was commanded by divine vision to go and find the head in the Holy land. Returning successful he went to the Pope and handed over the head. It being 500years old by now the jaw fell off and he was allowed to keep it and returned as bishop to Aosta with his friend St Jucundus.

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15km up and down the south facing valley wall about 400m
A much better day almost no rain, a few drops and clear snow covered tops all around. We are off about 9am for another short day up out of Nus with some beautiful views across and up the valley.
Plenty of flowers as we swap well made grit paths with tarmac side roads well above the motorway and railwa in the valley bottom. Soon we meet a field of cows with an electric fence some have a shock crossing. Bits of stick strategically wound with conductor may assist crossing.
We come across references, mainly murals on some churches to St Grat a local boy from 4th C Aosta who made bishop and seems to have the whole valley in his care with particular reference to the care of crops and prevention of insect damage. Quite why he has the head of John the Baptist tied to his wrist we never find out.
We continue to follow the 103 the Italian path number for this route down the Aosta valley, it eventually takes us to Chatillon where a seriously deep gorge sends a sizable stream to join the river Dora Baltea. This gorge was bridged in Roman times as this was the most important route into Gaul. It’s remains maybe on the photo of the gorge, or maybe not.
We find our lodging for the night and try to get a timbro (stamp for our pilgrim passports) in the main church without success, though it does have some nice stained glass.
risotto again tonight as we are not carrying half a kilo of rice tomorrow as well as today!

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So yesterday we got to Aosta, Italian gateway to the north and met Ray the mole who had burrowed neath Europe’s highest mountain to meet us on the station platform.
We then met the nice young lady who let us into our lodging for the night. Two bedrooms a sitting room and a kitchen in which cat swinging would be impossible. But which was perfect for our needs.
This morning Tim was up first and got cornetti and little jam tarts from the pastilleria down the street at 7.10 and later bread from the panaderia. Curiously pastilleria (pastry shops) and panaderia (bread shops) don’t necessarily seem to be the same thing. Or open at the same time.
It is not quite raining when we set off a short distance down the street to our first deviation of the day. To the church and Collegiate of St Ordo, this is worth a visit for anyone but especially Betsy who has heard is has some good misericords. They are very good as is the rest of the wood and stone carving in the church and cloisters.
The day however gets steadily damper as we ascend up the side of the very gently descending valley. Though it’s not as bad as the Met Office forcast would have us believe. -12 Deg and snowing. Although there is quite a bit of snow 2000m above us down in the valley it is about 11 degs+ Vines are starting to get going , new ones are being planted, iris are in bloom as are wisteria and a whole load of wild flowers. The irrigation system alongside the paths is full with melt water and bubbles over in one or two places.
We pass the Castle Quart not heavily fortified up here it doesn’t need to be and it was a farm for centuries after being the main feudal center of the area.
The rain gets heavier we find shelter under some trees and eat our sandwiches and trudge on down into Nus were a beer awaits and a little later our lodging a warm two bedroom apartment.
More tomorrow.

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So we leave Naples. An interesting week seeing many relics of the past from early Rome onwards. Joined by Freddie and Marcia for a few daysThe history of Naples is complicated and very bound up with the rest of the world. The Museo Archeologica was very goo and had an extensive collection of bits of naked Roman stuff. We got up Vesuvius and unlike today (raining) it was reasonably clear. But it is similar to a slag heap and only has a couple of smoking bits of rubble.
What else did we do? Pompeii, very big area not too crowded but difficult to properly appreciate, Herculaneum much smaller more compact and accessible with its tragic skeletons hoping to be saved on the then shore.
A tour of the oldest (if it had not burnt down) opera house in the world and opposite through the magnificent Galeria Umberto 1 Umberto was a king of Naples But history here is complicated.
Also one of the several underground visits to the cisterns/air raid shelters/rubbish dumps and one of the best ham and cheese toasties ever from a tent stall in Piazza Dante.
Food. Many pizzas of course,there was an excellent pizzeria (some guide books say second best in Naples) certainly very varied types and topping/fillings.
And then quite suddenly up at 6am to go to the station and climb aboard the sharp pointed red train to Turino, after waving off Jane to go home. Two more trains after that and we should be in Aosta to meet Ray who was in Geneva last night and start where we left off last year on our way to Rome. We are staying tonight on a street named for At Anselmo who was born in Aosta but became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093 thus was contemporary with William Rufus. And would have travelled the Via Francegena certainly to Canterbury and probably to Rome.

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Or maybe that should be transported. We arrived in Naples the land of the Romans today with little effort on our part beyond getting up at 3am. A touch before even Tim’ early rising habits.
The flight left and arrived on time and at the right airport. It was quiet most other passengers stunned by their hour of rising. It was raining at Bristol Airport as we stood on the tarmac waiting to board.But it may be the last we see for a while. Who knows.
We arrived in Naples and found the Ali us to Statione Centrale and got on the metro underground never found a ticket sales and got of near the museum. Found the place Tony had booked on the net and got taken somewhere else in the area where our apartment was just being cleaned and dumped stuff and went for a biera and pizza what else. The Stone Rose nearly a rock band was outside.
More at the end of the week in Naples and when we restart the Via Francegena for real.

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To the cathedral in Aosta for a last tampon/stamp in pilgrim passport.
Pleasantly down past a parish church dedicated to our hero St.Roche patron saint of pilgrims and plague! To catch the bus back up to St Bernard, a final beer while waiting for the bus from the Swiss side. On time of course, and over to Ostiers and then train down to the good campsite in Martigny. Tomorrow a train and flight home from Geneva.
The cathedral in Aosta has an impressive front door and lots of paintings inside.

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We had a very peaceful night where thousands have slept safely before after far more trying ascents. We get jam and bread and coffee at 8am and start our descent. The statue of St Bernard who founded the rescue abbey on the pass on the edge of the lake shows against the light of the rising sun on the mountains to the west. We start down there are snow patches even now where the route is tricky in summer shoes and lower down a not easy footpath. But we descend again through the high alpine meadows surrounded by mountains past numerous little streams feeding the rivers in the valley. We are crossed by several local parties of walkers coming up to escape the heat in the valley and eventually end in Etroubles. A place with a name that may resonate with many UK people. We have a pizza there at a reasonable price. No more excess Swiss prices and continue down though forests following irrigation channels on the path 103. These eventually lead us to Gignod and a good café and little store with a campsite that has seen better days but is very welcome.
Tomorrow we head back into expensiveland to go home from Geneva. More posts next Spring.

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