Nus or not …

Nus is a hot dry place in the rain shadow of the surrounding mountains; the earth is dry gravel; more of a Mediterranean feel. Scrubby vegetation, fruit orchards and fennel growing wild beside the path. Irrigation channels distribute water from the mountain streams to the fruit growers.
Most of this irrigation network dates from the medieval period, between the 13th and 15th centuries.
I walked past Quart Castle, fenced off and abandoned. See photo. Founded between the 11th and the 12" centuries, this castle, which once controlled the vast fiefdom of Quart (being 4 miles from Aosta), has been restructured several times. It came into he hands of the Savoys in 1377, was subsequently tranferred to other owners and eventually abandoned.
Question for those who have been paying attention: which other castle mentioned in an earlier entry was owned by the Savoys?
Back to Nus: Sunday afternoon in Nus like being in Coober Pedy on a hot day. Tried to find a beer at 4:30 as I was thirsty and did not trust the water. Place was boarded up like a bad day in Kabul. So had a lie down and tried again at 7:30. So weird. Totally transformed. It was like Kings Criss on a Saturday night - beats pumping out from everywhere; people on the street; cocktail bars; the works. So weird.
Found a beer: the local winos wanders in and even my best Italian did not get me a vino bianco without the local interpreter.
So my Italian is not the problem, I learn. My new besties, two Belgian guys, tell me they don’t speak Italian in this village, they speak French! Go dammit why is there not a sign at each town announcing the local tongue Jeez.
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