Italy
Chatillon

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    • Day 38

      Stage 57: Châtillon

      August 11 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

      A lot went wrong today.

      We knew the sun would be blistering so we left at 4H45 for an 18-mile trudge. The way out of Aosta was nice, and we enjoyed the vineyards, etc. However, we made a couple navigation mistakes that cost us a lot of time and added distance. I have no real idea how far we walked, but it was definitely more than 18 miles. We stumbled into Châtillon at 15H30. Awful day.

      To wit:

      1.) I am deathly afraid of heights. Our navigation mistake took us high up the mountain where we had to traverse multiple sagging wooden bridges and too many metal grates spanning deep canyons. A nightmare, but not the worst part. The path was blocked off in the middle of nowhere. Way too many miles to backtrack. We ended up having to hold on to a railing for dear life while we climbed around the barrier with only inches of foothold over a deep chasm. I could feel my life shortening.

      2.) Liam had serious physical challenges today. He was fine in the morning but with the distance, the effort and the awful heat he got sick. Breathlessness, profuse sweating, tinitus, and, most importantly, a racing heart we could not slow down. I found myself trying to figure out where we were in case I had to (somehow?) call for help. The reality was that we had no choice other than to continue walking, even to find help.

      We crawled into the first bar we found and the owner ran over with water and Fanta and a beer for Liam. Italians are great!

      We are now in a pilgrim refuge. Our first toilet/shower experience of this kind. All’s good now!
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    • Day 6

      Day 2: Aosta to Châtillon

      April 24 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

      Today was a long one (30.6 km) and the hardest walk I've done in a long time. I don't mind admitting that I'm sore all over. I literally took the scenic route - there were so many amazing things to see, and I took advantage of every photo opportunity. I'm sure it delayed my arrival, not to mention all the breaks I took, which let me soak in the views and was worth any delay. The Way today ranged from sealed road (a fair bit of that) to goat tracks. Again, I walked alongside an irrigation canal (the Ru Mazod). As you can imagine, there is a good amount of water around here. One bit of excitement: a dog came at me. I must have startled it when I suddenly appeared around the corner. I gave it a fierce stare and said "no" in my bossy voice, and it backed right off - what a relief. Funny, lots of dogs barked at me in France (even a goose had a go), not one dog that I recall barked at me in Switzerland, but here in Italy, the dogs seem to be territorial as well. One last thing; Saint Christopher is a big deal around here!Read more

    • Day 51

      Saint-Vincent 20 miles

      September 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Looking at the door to our apartment I was struck by how quickly the culture changes when you go between countries on the continent. Within the UK you cross a border between Scotland and England and it isn’t obvious looking about you. But going between France and Switzerland and, more recently, between Switzerland and Italy the changes are immediate and quite startling. Some examples. Going back to the door. This was an inside door to our apartment, from a stair serving 4 or 5 apartments which itself was secured by a locked door. And yet our door required a 5 point steel bar mechanism the like of which I have never seen before. The day before, in Switzerland, at the hostel, there were a couple of hundred folk staying with all their fancy gear lying about, not a locked door in the place. The corridor was littered with fancy phones, bike batteries, GPS units galore all spending the night being recharged.

      The traffic. In Switzerland anyone approaching near a zebra crossing brought all traffic, both ways, to a halt just in case you decided to cross the road. A couple of hours drive across the border in Italy and, if you are foolhardy, you can just about persuade drivers to stop if you throw yourself onto the crossing but I really wouldn’t advise it.

      And then we have the prices. In Switzerland they frequently have an odd rule about a minimum spend of 10SFr in order to pay by card. I say odd because it is almost impossible to buy anything that costs less than 10SFr. In Italy I bought 2 pastries and a sort of tart for our (healthy) breakfast for about 4€.
      Anyway, I digress.

      An interesting day’s walk. Weather was just about perfect. Temperature in mid twenties, blue skies, a cooling headwind enough to refresh but not chill. I had decided against the official route which tended to climb from the valley floor only to drop down after a while and then go back up again. And repeat. Scenic but knackering. Instead we took the cycle route which stayed on the valley floor, close to the river, mostly on a dedicated cycle path. Probably annoyed some cyclists. Quite hard on the feet walking 20 miles on road surfaces but much kinder on the legs. And it meant you were able to get some lunch. Had a piadina which is a sort of flat bread. Fine and very reasonably priced.

      Very fancy hotel although the double bed was split into twin beds faster than you would think possible. Dinner of charcuterie followed by risotto. Very good.

      Important discovery on ice creams. Apologies for those who are way ahead of me on this but it was new to me. You get far more ice cream for two scoops on a cone then in a carton. Impossible to eat without requiring a shower and change of clothes but worth it. Extensive experimentation will be done over the next 5 weeks believe me.
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    • Day 39

      Stage 58: Verrès

      August 12 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

      It was very important to us to avoid a repeat of yesterday. We left at 4H45 and decided NOT to follow the VF track out of town. We lopped off the difficult section leading up and out of town, electing to instead follow the main street out through the suburbs. We weren’t disappointed at all about missing out on that first section because we needed an easier day today. It is HOT here! Also, our walk was fun and we got to see more of Italian life.

      We reconnected with the VF in Vagnod and walked it the rest of the way. The little villages are, as always, a delight.
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    • Day 12

      11. Etappe-Nus-Châtillon

      July 12, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌩️ 21 °C

      Nach dem Frühstück im dunklen Bed and breakfast sind wir im kühlen Wetter los marschiert -die ganze Nacht und den Morgen hatte es geregnet, eine wahre Wohltat. Dann fiel das viele auf und ab und der häufige Asphalt nicht so ins Gewicht. Unterwegs kehrten wir nicht ein und waren um kurz nach 12 bereits in Châtillon. Nachdem uns Pater Stefano leider keine freien Plätze zum Schlafen anbieten konnte, sind wir in ein Hotel ins Familienzimmer, absolut bezahlbar. Dort haben wir ein Mittagessen eingenommen und gehen nach der Siesta nochmal in die Stadt.
      Da ich morgen den Weg etwas am Anfang abkürze, um nicht wieder zurück laufen zu müssen, sind wir den Weg zur Kirche hoch und oben entlang den via Francigena vor gelaufen. Nochmal schön was trinken und dann letzte Mal zusammen essen. Morgen gehen beide zurück und ich bin wieder allein. Schluss mit dem Fressen!
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    • Day 9

      Počitek. Sosta.

      July 23, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Tisti višinci včeraj so naju kar utrudili... Najdeva prvi piknik plac in dekco ven. Po poznem kosilu pa se nama res ni več dalo it naprej, sva kar obsedela in si naredila prijeten večer in počasno jutro.

      V bližini sicer lepe sprehajalne poti, a sva jih spustila. Jutri bo dež, zato greva danes še s kolesi na en passo, jutri pa daljši počitek.
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    • Day 5

      von Aosta nach Chatillion

      September 7, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

      Anstrengendster Tag mit insgesamt 35km. Schlechte Beschilderung, oft verlaufen (7km), viele Steigungen, zugewachsene oder nicht vorhandene Wege (musste über Gartenzäune, Bahngleisen und Felsen klettern) und zwischendurch gedacht ich komm nie an. Beine wieder so weit ok, aber neue Blasen. Bisher mindestens 8 Liter Wasser getrunken und könnte nochmal 5 verdrücken.
      Warte jetzt vor der Herberge auf die Pilger, die ich heute kennen gelernt habe. Zwei italienische Frauen und ein Franzose. Mit dem Franzmann teile ich mir heute ein Zimmer. Haben mir das auf dem Weg angeboten. War meine Rettung, weil alles andere ausgebucht ist.
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    • Day 5

      Saint-Vincent à Arnad

      July 6, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Via Francigena 2017
      Jeudi 6 juillet : Saint-Vincent - Arnad
      (19 Km,: 400 m de montée, 500 m de descente – 5h.00, sans les pauses)

      07h.00 Lever – Sacs faits BuS
      07h.30 Déjeuner (à l’Hôtel Elena)
      08h.15 Office (à l’église ? à l’hôtel ?) achats pic-nic
      09h.00 Départ (alt. 567 m) sur VF 103 montée direction Pont romain
      09h.30 Cillian, arrêt à la Chapelle Saint-Innocent (Pont romain ?)
      10h.00 Reprise de la marche montée en forêt
      10h.45 Pause à Feilley Bus
      11h.15 Poursuite de la marche via Château Saint-Germain
      12h. 30 Montjovet (alt. 416 m) – Office à l’église (fermée) Bus
      et pic-nic sur la place
      13h.30 Reprise de la marche descente au bord de la rivière, rive droite
      15h.00 Issogne ( alt. 395 m) – Pause cimetière (WC) Bus
      16h.00 Départ
      17h.15 Arrivée à Arnad (alt. 361 m), installation à l’Hôtel Bus
      Armanac de Toubie
      18h.30 Office (à l’Hôtel ou à l’église ?)
      19h.30 Repas en commun
      22h.00 Repos!
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    • Day 113

      Châtillon

      September 10, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Eigentlich ein netter Stehplatz direkt am Fluss. Etwas abseits der Stadt Châtillon, unterhalb des Châteaus.

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Chatillon

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