17 km — 23oC and rainy — We met 3 more pilgrims on their way to Rome.
(By Laurel)
No more blazing sun, no more blistering heat, no more mountainsides to climb and descend, no more pesky mosquitoes — hooray! ….were we riding on a bus? ….did we hop on a train for this stage? No, we were walking. In the rain.
As we set out from Issogne, the sky was grey, the mountaintops were totally obscured by thick clouds, and it was lightly drizzling. Our rain gear was being put to use for the first time on this trip. The drizzle turned into proper raindrops. All day, the conditions alternated between drizzle and rain, but it never out-and-out poured while we were walking. We certainly got wet, but never cold. Fortunately, the route to Pont-Saint-Martin was mostly flat and either gravel or pavement so quite doable despite the rain.
Two stops en route gave us respite from the weather: first at a bar for coffee, and second at the Forte di Bard. The Forte is a large fortress complex atop a rocky hill by the river and today houses museums, reached by three funiculars and an elevator (it’s way up high). Being located at a strategic point in the lower Aosta Valley, the Forte was attacked many times, including by Napoleon with his 40,000 troops who had come over the Alps at the Great St. Bernard Pass in 1800.
In Pont-Saint-Martin, we are staying in a bedroom in Casa Margherita, a private home. Our hostess made us a cup of coffee and told us that she is soon going, with her son and his family, to live in Prince Edward Island. Small world!
Top photo: light drizzle as we departed Issogne
Middle: looking up the Aosta Valley, toward Aosta: rain obscuring the Alps
Bottom: looking down the valley: lots of rain that way, too
Top: dodging mud puddles
Bottom: a short walk parallel to the highway (note: mountains should be visible behind Jim)
Only the second time we’ve seen a “pilgrim’s menu” on offer — we passed by here a couple of hours before the restaurant was open, so could not try it
Bottom: two drowned rats, but contented rats with hot coffee
Three photos above: the funicular going up to the top of the Forte. What a view!
We walked across three old stone bridges today! One at Ponte di Echallon, one at Borgo di Bard village, and a 2,000 year-old Roman bridge in Pont-Saint-Martin,
Were you wishing you had kept your rain pants?
ReplyDeleteNo, that wasn’t an issue … we were not cold, and my raincoat went down below my hips. However, we still got very wet; luckily, we could hang everything up at our accommodation that night, and it was all dry by morning!
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