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Walking Switzerland to Italy
  • Grant Mills
  • Grant Mills

Walking Switzerland to Italy

A 33-day adventure by Grant. Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 11, 2026
    Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler

    Unleash your inner wallet

    June 28 in Australia ☁️ 14 °C

    … and remind me next time to book a tropical holiday for a cool change.
    Morning entertainment while munching my croissant, was the very charming arrest of a miscreant (a slightly pissed woman, though rather early in the morning) by two very cuddly looking police.

    Lausanne. Smart, sassy and heaps of fun: stacked on a hillside overlooking Lake Geneva, Switzerland’s fourth-largest city is upbeat and hip, with vistas that pack a serial punch.
    Lausanne is a city of steps and steep hills. Escaliers zigzag up through the Gothic old town and down to trendy bars squatting in the arches of majestic old bridges and find Doctor Gab’s craft beer or chilled white vin de Lausanne from urban vineyards.
    That is the sell. Reality is that at these temperatures everyone is feeling a bit drained. I did not expect to see people swimming in the rivers, but most people’s dwellings are not air conditioned and are oriented to capture warmth in the usually chilly conditions.
    The good news is my hotel room is nice and cool, thank you for your concern.
    Delighted to catch up with Béa and Urs for a drink - on their way to their weekender in the mountains, they stopped off in Lausanne for a quick pint. Turns out Urs’s uncle worked in the Eastern Cape near where I grew up. And Béa gave me some invaluable local knowledge.
    Switzerland is divided up in to many zones and folk on the other side of the valley may speak a different language. Bizarrely, as the train crossed the country, announcements changed to French from German (Swiss). This, of course, was not enormously helpful to me as the word “beer” is universally understood.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler

    ex Sydney

    August 13 in the United Arab Emirates ☀️ 40 °C

    This is weird - travelling alone. I have done trips alone, back to South Africa to visit family or to LAX to see Max and Georgia. But, not alone for a trip like this, for a big walk like this. So what did I feel. Being a bit Aspie who doesn’t do feelings much, I felt wobbly or intrepid or one of those things. And then when I got through customs into duty free, I realised everything was going to be half price, so I went shopping. It is a bit like when Marie is pissed off with me, she raids the wine cellar. So I bought the most expensive ear buds I could find and did not really need, ha.
    If you stay alive long enough, you will realise the edges become blurred and what had once been clear and encapsulated, oozes outside itself and infects your normal.
    Can you free yourself enough to experience the reality of life as it goes on before you and with you.
    We will ponder as we walk through the Alps.
    … and I haven’t yet arrived … jeez    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Seldom seen dry lawnsLocals cooling down

    Winterthur Switzerland

    August 14 in Switzerland ☀️ 29 °C

    Zurich, on Bodensee (Lake Constance), in northeastern Switzerland: a good jumping off, or jumping in, point for Europe. Winterthur, where I am staying, is the sixth largest town in Switzerland. It was picked arbitrarily off the map as somewhere to recover from jet lag and not have to pay Zurich prices for a hotel. Fifteen minutes by train from the airport station, it turned out to be a good choice - charming tidy town currently hosting a music festival with street music and, at 36 degrees, everyone drinking lots of beer in the streets; and fresh food markets in the town square.
    It is, however, a linguistic challenge as only Swiss German is spoken here. Duolingo prepared me somewhat for the other end of Switzerland where they speak French. Plenty of tourists, or are they visitors, being polite and well behaved. The streets are clean and tidy and there are not many curves; few old looking buildings and everything works. I knew it was 9:15 because that is when the train arrived.
    Glad for my air conditioned room and my hotel has beer on tap. Fun train trip to Lausanne tomorrow where I will catch up with someone I met as a volunteer at the koala hospital.
    Gute gesundheit    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler

    Olympic city

    August 16 in Switzerland ☁️ 26 °C

    Question: who/what were the three mascots for Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and what did they symbolise? See below for answer.

    Lausanne is the home of the International Olympic Committee and hence my visit to the Olympic Museum, which overlooks Lac Lemac (Lake Geneva). So enthralled was I that my planned quick visit ended up as two and a half hours, as I wallowed in the romance and majesty of the Olympic vision.

    The beginnings of the first Olympic Games coincide with the religious festivals of ancient Greece and the cult of Zeus. They were held in 776 BC, but most probably existed before that. The Games were organised in Olympia every four years, with a sacred truce imposing peace for the duration of the competition.
    With the spread of Christianity, Emperor Theodosius I accused the Games of spreading paganism and abolished them by decree in 393 AD.

    1,500 years later the Games would be revived.

    The origin of sporting competitions in ancient Greece is not known for certain.
    It is possible that they stemmed - particularly the chariot race - from funeral games organised in honour of warriors killed in combat.

    The Olympic Games formed part of the Panhellenic Games. The special feature of these Games was that they reunited the Greek world at a time when Greece
    was not yet a country but consisted of city states.
    • The Games of Olympia (Olympic Games) in honour of Zeus.
    • The Games of Delphi (Pythian Games) in honour of Apollo.
    • The Games of the Isthmus of Corinth (Isthmian Games) in honour of Poseidon.
    • The Games of Nemea (Nemean Games) in honour of Zeus.

    The Games of Olympia, the most important, were the first to be created.
    The other three competitions were founded in the 6th century BC.

    Every four years, the announcement of the Games of Olympia marked the beginning of the truce throughout the Greek world. People could travel without fear to the city of Elis, where athletes qualified to take part in the Games, before proceeding to the sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. Participants and spectators came from all over Greece and its colonies (Italy, North Africa and Asia Minor).
    A common sentiment drove them: that of belonging to one and the same culture and one and the same religion.

    During training and competitions, the athletes were always naked. Nudity symbolised the ideal of a harmonious balance between body and mind. Perhaps this is why the church shut it down?

    On 23 June 1894, Frenchman Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (1863-1937), realised his dream of reviving the Olympic Games. The first Games were held in Athens in 1896.

    Pierre de Coubertin, an accomplished sportsman, visionary and educator, was the driving force behind the structure of the Olympic Games and the philosophy of Olympism, which seeks to create a way of life based on harmony between body and mind, the joy of effort, the struggle for perfection and respect for others, and which still inspires the Olympic Movement.
    In 1992, the IOC decided to re-establish the ancient tradition of the Olympic Truce. In partnership with the UN, the Member States are called upon at the UN General Assembly to respect the Truce during the Games.

    On display and tempting to touch is the Sydney Olympic Flame - it reminded me , with some emotion, of our family visit to the games.

    Syd, Ollie and Millie: Sydney, Olympics and Millennium    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    12

    Grapes and Figs

    August 17 in Switzerland ☁️ 30 °C

    … on which I nibbled on as I walked from Lausanne to Vevey.
    East of Lausanne is a series of steeply terraced vineyards above Lake Geneva forming the Lavaux wine region, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
    Facing south and southwest, they are divided into neat parcels by ancient dry-stone walls that soak up the hot summer sun; the proximity to Lake Geneva ensures a mild, temperate climate.
    Along my path through the vineyards are boxes stocked with wine; put your money in the honesty box and take a bottle for your picnic.
    In the twelfth century, Cistercian monks cleared the forests covering the mountainsides to plant vines. It then took several centuries to build the 450km of walls and 10,000 terraces - the Chasslas varietal thrives here today.
    Vevey is also a modern, regional centre and headquarters of Nestlé, the largest international food company. It also has a famous inhabitant in the comedian Charlie Chaplin, who I lived when I was a child.
    Well that is all very lovely. Reality is that I walk alone and I feel it. Marie is home dealing with some difficult family issues and here am I doing this stuff. Anyway I shall press on, determined to enjoy the local people and produce, as I did tonight with an excellent meal and wine in the hotel restaurant while watching the people go by on the sidewalks. We really are not all that much different. Gx.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Freddie M
    Freddie MChaplin set1They take their food seriously2My beach swimNOT my hotelChaplin and The Kid

    Charlie who?

    August 18 in Switzerland ☁️ 21 °C

    Question: what inspired Deep Purple to write the song “Smoke on the Water”? See below for answer. Hint: nothing to do with Charlie.

    This title picture is Freddy Mercury, of course.
    Montreux is the Swiss riviera and has been home to famous and rich. It is known, too, for the Montreux Jazz Festival.

    My favourite of those famous people is Charlie Chaplin who lived here for many years. Born in poverty in London, Chaplin was remarkable in being able to find humour in the sad and tragic of the human condition. And, for me as a youngster, his movies were a special place. I have on a wall at home a sketch of Chaplin and the boy from the movie “The Kid”. See above.
    Vevey is home to Chaplin’s World - it is worth coming to Switzerland for. I was there as it opened (actually before, but don’t tell) so was alone in the theatre as the 10 minute intro movie started. After the movie, I was instructed, as I did lot think to do it myself, to walk through the movie screen and thus entered the world of the movies I loved as a kid. It was remarkable and I have not the words for the experience. Sadly, I had a bus to catch and a mountain to climb, otherwise would have spent the day there.

    French as a language? I had learned how to ask for a beer. After some time now, my proficiency is such that I can now ask for a “large” beer. Sometime I remember to say “thank you” - in French.

    The walk? Well it was a very warm day and a rather pleasant promenade along the lake incorporating a lovely swim therein. I first checked that others were in the water and that I would not dissolve in acid or sewage. It was gorgeous, clean and pleasantly warm (an indication of how hot it has been here and for how long). Pretty much like any other tourist-infested beach, except it had the Alps backdrop.

    For the music trivia tragics: British rockers Deep Purple recorded an album in Montreux in 1971 and commemorated a fire that broke out during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention gig at the Montreux casino. The pall of smoke cast over Lake Geneva inspired Deep Purple to pen their heavy-chorded classic Smoke on the Water.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    4Chillon Castle and The Dents du Midi
    4Chillon Castle and The Dents du MidiChillon Castle and The Dents du MidiChillon beachYvorne near Aigle overlooking Rhone valley1…. It sure what it was but it was nice

    “The Prisoner of Chillon …?”

    August 19 in Switzerland ☁️ 27 °C

    I took my swim at Villeneuve this morning … beautifully curated pebbly beach with a sensational backdrop. I had been walking for only an hour; passed Chillon Castle, but knew I had not the time for a visit - if I did, it would be over an hour and the heat of the day was building. Jumped in to the lake in my walking shorts and did a lap, the water clear and warm. A woman started talking to me; she was local; her English was very good; I had to keep moving, but it was nice to talk to someone.
    At the time Byron visited Chillon Castle, it was a prison, so he did not stay, obviously. While on a tour of the lake, a storm forced him to take shelter at Montreux and he was told the story of Bonivars, a Protestant clergyman imprisoned by the Catholic count, not unusual behaviour for a Catholic those days. Thus, he wrote a poem in 1816 about this man, a prisoner of the Count of Savoy:
    “My hair is white, but not with years,
    nor grew it white in a single night, … “

    The Savoys had built the castle and prospered taking a toll from anyone who passed by (and there was nowhere else to pass by) and became fat and happy, comfortable in the strategic advantage of having a castle on an island controlling a narrow valley. In the meantime, the Berenese had acquired a thing called a canon and liked the business model of having such a castle. The defenders hopped in the kayaks and fled to the other side of the lake where the cheese was good. End Count of Savoy story. Now, if he had nuclear submarines, the Bernese would still be yodeling in the hills far away.
    Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this writer’s knee was sore and the heat was hot and there was not much shade and aircon is not a thing in Switzerland.
    … but is beautiful and the food is delicious. Tonight’s degustation attached; washed down with local Chasselas wine.
    The other pain is the AUD is as useful as the Zim dollar.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Cloister at ArgleAigle CastleWeather damaged cropsGlaciers making their way to the sea via the RhoneToday's activity

    iNduna …

    August 20 in Switzerland ☀️ 31 °C

    Went to see the local iNduna about getting my knee fixed; combining this with a double dose of anti-inflams - bound to work. Thing is, I can’t turn back; I am locked in to this gig, sore knee or not. Sigeric the Serious did it, so can I. Mind you, he had a donkey to carry his stuff and talk to when no one else would. Brings me to the piont - I have seen only two people on the trail so far. Almost weird.
    A grief I have here is that wine-by-the-glass is a 100 ml serve, which seems awfully little given that I have been walking through lots of vineyards lately and there it a global over supply of the stuff. I had thought a glass of wine was 250 ml - well, that’s what my mother taught me. Anyway, there are some really nice wines here: upheavals during the formation of the Alps have left many different soil types in the Chablais area, creating the 'goûts du terroir’. The Chablais hillside vineyards are exposed to the ‘foehn’, a hot dry wind which speeds up ripening of the grapes in autumn. I could go on …
    Back to business: the trail follows the valley of the Rhone River which, as I am sure you all know, starts up here in the Alps and ends up in the Mediterranean Sea near Arles. It goes through Lyon, which is nice because we had drinkies there a couple of years ago before we did the Chemin (sigh .… walk) in France. Tomorrow, at Martigny, I will turn right, or maybe it’s left, and follow the Dranse River - whatever, must check this tomorrow as things are different here in Europe.
    Some gruesome history about this town and its name: emperor Maximian ordered the Thebian regiment to march to Gaul, to assist him against the rebels of Burgundy. The Theban Legion was commanded by Maurice (Mauritius), Candidus, Innocent, and Exuperius, all of whom are venerated as saints. At Saint-Maurice, then called Agaunum, the orders were given—since the Legion had refused to perform sacrifice according to the imperial cult —to decimate it by putting to death a tenth of its men. This act was repeated twice before the entire legion was put to death.
    See you later, or not …    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Pissevache (cow piss) waterfall
    Pissevache (cow piss) waterfall

    Boring blog today

    August 20 in Switzerland ☁️ 24 °C

    Today was a walk in the rain. A relief to be cool after the hot days. And a chance to test my kit in the rain and wind and built some confidence dealing with potentially tough conditions when I get higher up into the mountains.
    Still following the Rhine river valley which is in fact quite congested. It is narrow in places and carries a lot of infrastructure. When the valley opens up, it is intensively farmed, mainly fruit.
    My expectations for Martigny were high, so was underwhelmed arriving to a basic modern city lacking charm - rail infrastructure and ugly high rise apartments; boring streets. Totally different in winter, I am sure.
    However, tomorrow promises an interesting explore of Roman amphitheater and some insight into the history. I have a rest day tomorrow before the steep bits.

    Question: why ring a bell every half hour during the night, knowing you are keeping awake people who need to do stuff the next day?    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Fondation Pierre GianaddaFondation Pierre Gianadda1936 Silver ShadowWooden bridge over Dranse Rv

    Martigny at leisure

    August 22 in Switzerland ☀️ 17 °C

    A brighter day today surrounded by sun drenched peaks, a good sleep-in and a clean shirt (hotel hand basin wash only but surely an improvement after four days of sweat and then there’s the socks I’ll leave it there haha).
    Mobility scooters hum past the hotel restaurant window. This boutique hotel is staffed by people with disability and today is “disability race day” in Martigny and the staff are participating and very excited. Apparently they have to race carrying a tray of drinks or something down the Main Street. After-party at the hotel tonight. Should be fun - hope there are no casualties ‘cos I think the bartender is racing. See below for results!
    And there goes is a St Bernard’s dog - this valley is where they breed them and have a place where you can pat them and take them for a walk and presumably pick up their poop. Definitely for me.
    Surrounded by vineyards and fruit trees, Martigny is known for its good food. Strawberries, apricots, grapes and asparagus grow well under the hot Valais sun. In the past, personalities such as Rousseau, Goethe, Stendhal and Liszt were seduced by the culinary delights of the region.
    Historically, Martigny looks back on two thousand years or more: Celtic tribes, the Romans and Napoleon's troops all left their mark here.
    Also a restored amphitheatre on the edge of town, and Roman thermal baths, temples and residential quarters.
    After my visit to the amphitheater, I dropped into Fondation Pierre Gianadda, not really expecting much other than to fill in time before beer o’clock. Turns out the Foundation stages significant exhibitions with works of art coming from private collections around the world. There are gardens open for a stroll through the Sculpture Park, and to see the Gallo-Roman remains: archaeological relics discovered during digs in Martigny.
    The Foundation also houses the Louis and Evelyn Franck Collections as well as a space dedicated to the inventions of Leonardo de Vinci; and artworks by Albert Anker, Max Buri, Augusto Giacometti, Giovanni Giacometti and Ferdinand Hodker.
    There is also an amazing automobile museum with more than 50 perfectly restored vintage cars going back to 1897.
    Turned out to be a worthwhile stop.
    Then drifted up the hill to Chateau Bâtiaz, actually a castle, on a bluff overlooking the town. See photos.
    Results from today race - yay, Hotel Boutique Martigny did brilliantly in the race with first, third and fourth positions so much celebrating at reception.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Terminus Hotel Orsières3

    Martigny to Orsières

    August 23 in Switzerland ⛅ 20 °C

    A decent hike today. Nice to get off the hard surfaces; more a sense of adventure walking through the forest and across streams. Even a swing bridge which I know some people would not have liked.
    A blue sky day, a bit warm in the sun. But up here less humid and the sun soon drops below the sharp ridge and remnants of snow in shaded slopes high up and a pleasant crispness to the air.
    More the Switzerland I imagined with hillside farming villages and the occasional cow with a bell.
    Met two Belgian men and we talked about the hiking trails we had done in Europe - they love the pilgrim trails. So easy for them: they jump on a train and soon on the trail.
    The Col du Grand Saint-Bernard (Great St. Bernard Pass) had a decisive influence on the history of Orsières. North-south trade created prosperity for the area, those who controlled the gateway extracted a toll from traders and travellers. But this was a double-edged sword. The town owes its first historical mention to this: in 925 the Abbot of Cluny was kidnapped near the bridge of Orsières and only released after the payment of a ransom. You have it, other people want it.
    The area has a long tradition of alpine farming with cute Ehringer cattle and sheep. Basically, in summer the stock are out grazing on the lush summer grass; in winter the stock are kept in barns and the farmers make cheese. This business model kept these remote farming communities insulated from, at times, the chaos of Europe.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    1Looking back down the valley to OrsièresDing dongClimbing up from the riverNapoleon's bivouac at Bourg St PierreFondue feastMe and BarryTomorrow to the pass

    Ding dong …

    August 24 in Switzerland ⛅ 18 °C

    Bourg-St-Pierre is the gateway to Italy and last village before the Great St. Bernhard Pass and the tunnel (to Italy). The village’s history is dominated by the pass crossing: armies crossed the Great St. Bernhard as early as the 3rd century BC. Saint Bernard of Menthon founded the monastery and hospice at the pass summit in the 11th century, paving the way for what became an imposing and austere building of great importance to travellers.
    The renowned St. Bernhard dogs are bred here, the most famous of them being the legendary Barry, said to have saved the lives of 40 travellers in distress on the snowbound pass between 1800 and 1812.
    Napoleon and the boys, thousands of them, camped here - well Napoleon did not camp as such. In the town hall, on the wall, is pinned the IOU for 40000 francs, still owing for the fondu and Fendant.
    A bit of a climb today, up the gorgeous valley of the Dranse catchment through pine and spruce forests and across meadows with cows wearing bells creating a quaint soporific soundscape.
    New besties, Frederick and Chris from Belgium. Not only did they help with the menu but also finishing two bowls of fondue, the local specialty, and a bottle of Valais Fendant and solved a few global problems at the same time.
    Tomorrow, the Great St Bernard’s Pass and Italy.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    1Lac des ToulesThe final hill …1Lake St BernardThe monastery1Negroni timeHotel Italia

    Italy … I love you, ba…by

    August 25 in Switzerland ☀️ 13 °C

    This is the day. Crossing the border. Over the pass. A walk through the Alps, through history and the path that some many have taken in their own endeavours for trade or war or faith or love.
    Up up up … we go.
    And at the top of my climb at the pass it is a bit like a supermarket car park a mix of the sacred and the cursed.
    You make of it what you will though - for some it was a pilgrimage; others it was a day trip in her Lotus or with his chick on a 1200 GS. Others a camper van beside the lake for the night; someone selling toy St Bernard dogs.
    But for me this is the land of the $8 Negroni…. alleluia.
    It is a bit more than that but will get to that later.
    The land of the $8 Negroni and that shared with my Belgian buddies at a tavern in the Italian side of course beside the lake. On the ridge above a steinböck silhouetted. Also saw a marmot and heard them calling, me thinking it was a buzzard.

    The pass had been used by the Celtic to invade Italy in 390 BCE. Julius had a crack at taking the pass, but got skittle by the Celts. His adopted son, Augustus, succeeded and a temple to Jupiter Poeninus was built, the consequence of the religious syncretism of the Latins, who assimilated the classical pagan god with Penn, the male divinity revered by the Celto-Ligurians as lord of the peaks, and from whom various toponyms derive, including Mount Penna, the Appennines and the Pennine Alps.
    The Pass was used continuously throughout the Middle Ages and, with the major influx of pilgrims in around the year 1000, Bernard of Menthon, Archdeacon of Aosta who later became a saint, founded the large hostel structure that is still active today. The statue of St Bernard dominates Plan de Jupiter and he also got a dog named after him …. so cute.
    Enough history. Check out the photos.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Laundry department
    Laundry department3Mystery objectWinter shelter2Hotel ItaliaMFI mountainMorning sojourn looking back at the passRandom vegetationsame but closer1what the heck is this thing …2I know what this is

    French hand basin … ?

    August 26 in Italy ⛅ 13 °C

    One of the challenges travelling like this is the laundry department. Opportunities for washing and drying clothes is limited and due to the nature of the activity, the demand on this service is quite high. You just cannot carry 30 pairs of socks and undies with you. Well you could, but it would be stupid.
    Fortunately, they have an ingenious solution here - they have a special sock-washing basin in the bathroom which has hot water and its own plug and everything. It is a bit low down so you have to get on your knees if your back is crook, otherwise marvellous. I even brought my own laundry detergent sheets so don’t have to use the hotel shampoo. Bonza. And then you put the sock over the end of the hair dryer like a condom and hang that from the towel rail and go for a beer and when you come back your sock is dry. Repeat exercise for each sock so if you have inner socks as well that is quite a few beers.
    Anyway, once the washing was done, this being a rest day, I went for a walk promising myself not to climb any mountains which was hard because the Italian flag was just on the next peak ahead. Given that I had no water, food or jacket, uncharacteristic common sense prevailed and I just took some photos and went back for a beer and espresso.
    Question: what is that thing in the photo? About 3 cm long and found up on the side of the mountain I did not climb.
    If you get it right I will give you a trophy sock when I get back, yay.
    See you later for the descent into the Aosta valley and Piedmont and wine and cheese and all things yummy.
    Gotta go … Negroni time    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    1

    Etroubles

    August 27 in Italy ☁️ 23 °C

    Left Grand St Bernard’s Pass in the clouds this morning and descended steeply towards the valley below and passed through neat little villages that have a history of providing service to travellers and others who pass through. At Saint Rhémy I stopped a pilgrim rest stop where you could make a log book entry. One of the locals collected the demographics of the walkers. Chatted to a man and his daughter who had walked all the way from the Netherlands.
    Once the path reached the valley it flattened out and took me through cute villages and grand rural landscapes.
    Etroubles is a small town and has made a huge effort to attract visitors - lovely streetscape and permanent outdoor art works, in a lovely valley. I visited a small old butter factory and had a private tour by an Italian nonna.
    Heading to Aoata tomorrow. See you then.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Aosta valley
    Aosta valleyAosta valleyGignod

    I miss my family

    August 28 in Italy 🌧 16 °C

    It was an easy but soggy walk today quite warm despite the rain and arrived at the very nice hotel looking like a wet dog dripping on the foyer carpet and put my trekking poles and smelly hat on the reception counter.
    Feeling rather down in the dumps today and wanting to go home where I can play with my own toys. To pick myself up as no one else around to do that I thought a nice meal in a lekker Italian restaurant would go some way to fix the morbs.

    Went to an osteria down the road from my hotel because my hotel restaurant was a bit posh for me and I felt like more of a warm family vibe.
    Osterias are generally family run restaurants with a family feel. Anyway, mama sits me down at tavolo due and gives me an English menu despite my best Italian and I order a salad, traditional stew and a glass of red of her choice and I am pleased to report that the Italians know how to pour wine not like the Swiss or maybe she just liked me.
    Anyway I digress. Love watching a hungry young person in a restaurant: at the adjacent table sits three middle aged folk and with them a solid looking young man clearly the son of one of them. So the youngster finishes his meal in quick time, then eyes his mother cheese fundu which is basically the size of a bucket and way way way too much for her. When he is finished that, his eyes his father’s meal and dad can only handle half of his then he inhales a tiramisu faster the I can. I quickly finished my tiramisu just in case because I was hungry after a long walk and only nuts and dried fruit on the trail. Just so as you know it was my second best tiramisu- the best was the one I had last night in Étroubles, or was it the one I had the night before at Col Grand St Bernardo I loose track hahaha

    Aosta is a bit like a mini Sienna except not if you know what I mean because it is not on a steep slope. It was among the many cities founded by the Romans, and today is home to important antiquities from the Imperial Age. Augusta Praetoria (Aosta) was founded in 25 BC at the confluence of rivers, and the intersection of two important roads, one leading to the Alpis Poenina Pass (the Gran San Bernardo), from where I walked, the other to the Alpis Graia (the Piccolo San Bernardo or Little St Bernards Pass). Thus located on one of the main transalpine routes, hence its wealth. And then there is the prosperity of the 1300’s and after when these guys made serious money - though mostly further south like in Turin. But they did okay here.
    Modern Aosta is now a thriving commercial and industrial centre as well as a popular destination for winter snow sports; and in summer, access to vast areas on mountain activities
    Day off tomorrow to be a tourist - when in Aosta, do as the Romans did.    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    22

    Taphonomy and Trapanation

    August 29 in Italy ☀️ 23 °C

    Never know what you will find when dig a hole around here. Turns out while excavating for a new housing development down the road, a labourer on a 482 visa, much to the displeasure of the developers, put a shovel into a Neolithic village. Now there is a marvellous new Megalithic Museum, beautifully designed and presented and with English text. Evidence of first soil ploughing ie animal powered rather hoeing by hand; menhirs and post holes; burial tombs and relics galore and a journey from post glacial warming to Roman era and beyond.
    Taphonomy is the study of the corpse and the changes that take place over time. Remarkable stuff can be learned from bones - what sort of work they did; traumatic injuries; and rituals. Trapanation is the practice of creating a hole in the skull for medical reasons. Evidence on display here. And some of the patients survived (as evidenced by new bone growth). A fascinating morning.
    Being a warm day and not wanting to walk back to town in my Archies, I jumped on No 3 bus which I nearly missed cos I was doing Wordle. The driver had serious dreadlocks and the passengers seemed unsure about the reggae music. I waved my phone over the ticket things as you do in Sydney. Unsatisfactory response from the machine. Tried a couple of times but no luck. Foolishly I had no plastic credit card with me doh. “Due Euro” says the driver, “Senza contanti” says I. What now! I made to get off the bus but the door was already closed. Driver thumbs me to a seat. Cheers bro’.
    The other site I visited, the Roman Theatre - a mini Forum Romanun, is being developed but still impressive. After the decline of the Roman Empire and the expansion of Christianity, public entertainment venues were progressively abandoned, repurposed, or dismantled for their stone materials, which were subsequently reused elsewhere. See photos.
    Thereafter, a bit of passeggiare, but otherwise took it easy. Booked a table for dinner tonight with an English couple I met on the trail. Should be fun - have conversation not English weeks had not.
    Walkies tomorrow to Rus.
    Buona notte    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Quart Castle
    Quart Castle1Aosta Valley toward GSB Pass1Lunch stopLove the way they serve drinks here3

    Nus or not …

    August 30 in Italy ⛅ 22 °C

    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.
    A presto    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    1
    1

    Hot walk … cool vibes

    August 31 in Italy ⛅ 27 °C

    First settlements arose along the Roman Via delle Gallie. In the crypt of the parish church other side the road, traces of the 10th-century building can be seen, with columns from the Carlingian Period.
    In local parlance, the two sides of the valley, separated by the Dora Baltea River, are called “adret” and “envers”. Adret being the hot sun exposed side I am walking on, and envers being the cooler often snow bound slopes where I would rather be today, at 30 degrees C and not much shade. Abandoned villages and orchards a sign of changed economics and society and now the hot heat. Castles built by the House of Challant now crumbling bell towers and fallen times. At times now morphed into a new age of arty abodes with wood sculptures and colour. See photos.
    Staggered into an absolutely gorgeous hotel; checked in; put the feet up and a cup of black tea ‘cos they use all the milk for cheese; caught up on the day. Outside my window the old citadel built on the remnants of Roman habitation. Photo.
    Wandered around. Saint Vincent is a happening place - clearly the community have invested in the visitor trade. A happy buzz in the streets. I walk a couple of block to see far my new Belgian mates have gone for a beer. Not far it turns out. They speak French; I speak anglofrancoitaliano twaddle and drink a bit more to make myself better understood. It works and we have a reasonable conversation and a laugh. They pay for my drinks. I like them. Turns out they are on pretty much the same itinerary. Could get expensive.
    Anyway, where was I …

    Problem loading photos today    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    122

    Must be getting older … Verrés

    September 1 in Italy ☀️ 20 °C

    Maybe they printed the elevation profile upside down, or maybe I am just getting older. It felt a whole lot harder than it looked on paper. Shade this morning and cooler and I almost felt unusually cheerful. Then the sun moved across the valley and there was less shelter. Okay I had a warm afternoon; but these guys have had a heat wave since May - temperatures averaging 6 degrees above normal.
    Corvées: according to tradition, the corvées were obligatory civic activities in which the population performed a given task free of charge to benefit the community as a whole. In this way, maintenance of many public works, especially irrigation canals, roads and paths, was entrusted direcily to those who benefited from them. I am not sure what the councillors were doing while this was happening.
    Passed through a cute little town, Montjovet. The Romans dedicated a local temple to Jove. Sections of the Via delle Gallie can still be seen here, at the time wide enough for two wagons to pass. Furrows left by the passage of wagons can be seen on the roadbed.
    I am having a beer at a local in Verrés - the smell of diesel and cigarette smoke thick in the air. The locals talk loudly with rough voices, vocal cords charred by years of heavy smoking. The Maes Pilsner was good though. Think I will move on and find dinner elsewhere. I did - met up with a young French couple and we supped together. How nice of them especially as it was their honeymoon.
    Real cute artwork on the street walls. Photo.
    At this point, Via Francigena intersects withEurope’s walking infrastructure. The path connects Europe, from the North to the Mediterranean sea, from Canterbury to Santa Maria di Leuca, linking the cultures, lands, regions and cities - a total of 3200 km through five countries. 2600 km to go!    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler
    Wine pressEchallod BridgeBard CastlePont-Saint-Martin

    Blue Tractor

    September 2 in Italy ☁️ 21 °C

    Relatively easy walk today so took it slow - sat by Echallod Bridge over the Dora Baltea river, a Romanesque hump back bridge with old remnant frescos in the alcove. Sat on a nice cool granite bench and had a lovely long chat to Max. We covered a lot of ground as life is full at the moment … I needed that chat. Beside the river I lunched on local cheese and ham and a boiled egg - great hiking food.
    At Bard I bought a ticket for the castle, including the lift. There was no way I was including a steep 1.2 km climb in my day. Bard Castle, originally constructed around year 1000. In 1800 with 400 soldiers and 20 cannons Bard Fort was able to repel Napoleon’s army which had journeyed over the Great St Bernard’s Pass, without artillery of course.
    Movie nurds: Avengers Age of the Ultron was set here and Pont-Saint-Martin and Aosta, which were transformed into the fictional city of Sokovia. The Fort was chosen as the headquarters of Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s archenemy, where Baron Von Strucker was able to count on the assistance of the super-powered twins Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
    More importantly, and moving on to wine again: Terraced vineyards ascend the steep eastern side of the valley. These Carema vineyards lie on terraces at 300 to 600 meters, supported by dry-stone walls and cultivated with the traditional pergola system known as topia, held up by stone pillars called pilun - these help create a favourable microclimate. Vineyard work is entirely manual and increasingly threatened by abandonment and the loss of traditional skills. Only 13 hectares are planted and all grapes are vinified locally as Carema DOC, made from the picotener biotype of Nebbiolo. As it happens, it like Nebbiolo.
    Had dinner with Belgian besties Philippe and Louies and had fun with a combo of French Italian English Dutch and Africaans. They were not good map readers and arrived had late and bedraggled after climbing a mountain somewhere they were not meant to be. They want to walk with me tomorrow. How nice.
    Tomorrow is a day!    Read more

  • Grant MillsWalking Switzerland to ItalyTraveler

    … and so it ends, Ivrea

    September 3 in Italy ⛅ 20 °C

    Ended up walking much of the last day with my two Belgian mates, Tin Tin and Captain Haddock (not their real names). There were separations due to navigation discrepancies, usually involving me behind them at one point, then way ahead of them at the next point due to them using totally different parameters for decision making at divergent paths as they would prevaricate seemingly endlessly at an ambivalent intersection and I would dive down a path clearly obvious to me.
    The good news is that we ended up in Ivrea in a way that we could navigate to the nearest cafe/bar for a celebratory beer or two.
    We ended up having a lovely dinner together and they were so nice to me despite their struggle with English and my struggle with French. Friends for life as happens on these long walks with like minded people in the right place the right time.
    Ivrea is a lovely town but I am tired and cannot write anymore.
    More thoughts tomorrow maybe … probably not though maybe we will see as I drift about Ivrea, the home of Olivetti typewriters if you grew up in the age of those things that were a giant leap forward at the time    Read more

    Trip end
    September 12, 2026