Italy
Courmayeur

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    • Day 9

      Linner today

      July 11 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

      Laurie finally had enough staying in, so we strike out for Linner and decided to return to Osteria Walser ( on my part, basically, any other restaurants would require more walking and doing uphills/downhills... plus the food was really good so let's hope for the repeat this time around)

      We were not disappointed for a second off a second!!

      Aperol Spritz
      Franciacorta (Prosecco)

      Trio di Bruschetta - Bruschetta Mix (Tomatoes - Buffalo Mozzarella - Smoked scamorza cheese) shared app

      Carbonada con polenta - Laurie
      (Carbonada is a typical dish from the Aosta Valley , originating in Belgium and northern France ( especially Lille ) and widespread in Belgium, the western Alps, and south-eastern France .
      https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonada)

      Tris di stufati con polenta - YT
      (Polenta with venison, sausages and carbonada stews)

      And of corse the liqueur came out again per gratis this time we took a pic of the bottle so perhaps he did mean the "house" as his private stash as it is not produced and bottled locally...
      It still tasted good 👍 😋
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    • Day 21

      Courmayeur

      August 13, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Ce matin nous avons repris la route, direction le col du petit Saint-Bernard où nous passerons notre dernière nuit en Italie. Avant d’entamer la montée du col, nous nous sommes arrêtés dans la petite ville de Courmeyeur au pied du Mont-Blanc. L’occasion de manger notre dernière glace italienne 🍦Read more

    • Day 7

      Mixed feelings

      July 9 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

      First things first, we stopped at Farmacia, where a technician volunteered to walk us to a local Dr's office.

      Now, Doctore came in, not stinking of gin
      And proceeded to lie on the table
      He said, "Laurie, you met-a your match-a
      No mor-eh hike-a Monte Blanco too much-a"...

      Or something like that, but you get the picture. He was a really nice guy, and him and I even swapped the stories of our youth travels - he wasin U.S. when he was 14, and I - in Italy when I was 15 - but all pleasantries aside the verdict was to stop, with bed rest, icing the knee and eating anti-inflammatory meds (we were duly prepared fir this type of emergency by having proper pills and bringing 2 ice packs).

      We went to dinner 6, somewhat sad and disappointed...and of course in the midst of it... Happy birthday, Laurie! - not exactly the way we envisioned the celebration to be ... but life is what happens when you are busy making other plans and some plans don't exactly end the way we envision them.

      So we cross the street to Pizzeria L'angolo di Mel and console ourselves with a celebratory Boutella a Vino Rosso and a place specialty - La Stella di Mel

      Laurie by now is visibly tired so we retreat back to the room, follow the prescribed regime and call it a night.
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    • Day 8

      Courmayeur

      July 10 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

      Not much Laurie can do
      I ventured out to do some recon as to where the bus station is and to scope out other eateries

      I come up to Piazza Abbe Henry check out the views there
      Nice to notice that China and France are our 2 "better" friends
      Preview the Alpine Society building which also houses Museo Alpino duca dealing Abruzzi
      Go into Parrochia Santo Panteleone (couple extra prayers and lots of thanks never hurt)
      Drop to Vallée Blanche - Traversata Monte Bianco looking at the crowd enjoying Gelato and crepes
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    • Day 8

      Courmayeur 2

      July 10 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

      Laurie was finally able to venture out so we made our way to Vallée Blanche - Traversata Monte Bianco and comfortably settled in at Bar Visteria Walser and ordered 2 Weihenstepheners.
      (I tell ya those bottles are quite large .75L)
      We expected a small bowl of chips as it's customary and it did appear sure enough, but then this tray of foccacchias and local mortadella appeared per grati!
      Not too shabby fir a little break.
      We then took a little stroll taking in on little streets past Piazza Padre Henri and more into the town
      Of course there are tiny streets and awesome fruits (we did buy some for later enjoyment; the cherries were expensive but huuuge) and
      cool buildings and
      Camino boot 😉 and
      alleyways and courtyards and
      doors and flowers and
      yummy Bakery stuff and
      strange ancient carvings in the wall and even Klingon Ships
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    • Day 6

      Jour 5 - La Visaille -> Lavachey

      July 28 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

      (+ 940 m | - 650 m)
      Notre chambre était super exiguë et étouffante pour 4 de sorte qu'on a été obligés d'entrouvrir la porte toute la nuit pour pouvoir respirer. Mais comme nous étions juste à côté des toilettes, autant vous dire que la nuit a été compliquée.
      Réveil 6h30.
      Nous descendons à pied jusque dans le Val Veny où nous montons dans un bus (toujours gratuit) quu nous dépose au cœur de Courmayeur.
      La montée démarre immédiatement, tout d'abord dans la ville puis dans le quartier hyper cossu des résidences secondaires. Puis nous entrons dans le sous-bois et à partir de là, ça va grimper très très sec pendant 2h (+ 800 m). Encore heureux que nous sommes à l'ombre car il fait hyper chaud. Arrivés au Refuge Bertone, c'est direct 2 sodas pour chacun d'entre nous. Il est trop tôt pour manger des pâtes (le service ne démarre qu'à 12h30 😥), du coup nous nous rabattons sur des sandwiches . La chaleur s'intensifie. Nous montons encore un peu et là : spectacle ! Vue sur le Mont-Blanc, enfin ! Avec l'impressionnant Glacier de la Brenva qui en descend ! Juste dommage qu'un nuage reste accroché à son sommet...
      A partir de là, nous allons peu ou prou suivre la même courbe de niveau pendant 2h, comme si on marchait sur un balcon, juste en face des Grandes Jorasses. La vue est incroyable, on en prend plein les yeux.
      Il fait vraiment très chaud. Les garçons se rafraîchissent les pieds dans un petit torrent, puis on repart jusqu'au Refuge Bonatti.
      Parvenus au refuge, c'est fou le contraste entre les italiens qui mangent en plein soleil et les coréens qui sont sur-couverts et qui se prostrent à l'ombre.
      Limonade / coca et hop, on entame la redescente vers le Val Ferret. Ça commence à taper dans les genoux !
      Arrivés en bas, nous attrapons une navette (gratuite) qui nous ramène à Courmayeur. On pue, c'est atroce !
      On trouve rapidement notre hôtel où nous demandons à faire une lessive !
      Douche. Je file en ville m'acheter un chapeau à larges bords. Trop peur de me cramer le cou, les joues et le nez ! Les gars discutent avec le patron de l'hôtel qui est super sympa.
      Restau bien rassasiant puis étirements et dodo.
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    • Day 7

      Day 2

      September 5 in Italy ⋅ 🌫 16 °C

      Twelve mile hike from Les Contamines to Les Chapieux. It was tough! I think this is going to be the norm! Plopped down at the top to eat lunch behind a little building to get out of the wind and asked the other couple who had the same idea, where they were from. They said WI….where in WI….Hudson!!! Small world!Read more

    • Day 7

      Day 3

      September 5 in Italy ⋅ 🌫 16 °C

      Not a lot of picture taking today due to constant cold rain. We hiked about 8 miles from Les Chapieux to Courmayer. We crossed from France into Italy today. When we reached the top it reminded me of those movies where they summit Kilamanjaro and the wind is just whipping and the little prayer flags are blowing like crazy and there is a big stack of rocks with a flag….oh wait, Sissy did that!! There was rain wind and sleet and it was a little intimidating because we had to go down the other side yet. Needless to say, we didn’t see much and we were cold and soaked through. Took a hot bath in this cool tub in our hotel when we got back. Nanny , it’s fine! 😜 Felt very luxurious!Read more

    • Day 8

      Day 4

      September 6 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

      Hiked from Courmayeur to Refugio Bonotti About 8 miles. Best views and my favorite segment so far. We came up to the top and it felt like that snow covered mountain was just saying “look at me….impressive huh?…worth the hike up here?”….kind of took your breath away! Learning new things every day. Like going up a mountain is kind of like running a marathon. It’s your race. Your pace. People yakking behind you will drive you crazy at some point. Let them pass. You feel pretty accomplished when you complete it. But now we have to run another one tomorrow!!Read more

    • Day 10

      Arivederci Courmayeur

      July 12 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

      Last morning in Courmayeur
      It rained, and thunderstormed last night pretty bad! And boom-booms like we've never heard before
      We reckon it's because the thunder bounces off the mountains
      Last picture if the door
      Shortly after another scrumptious breakfast, we check out (BTW, the family that runs is the Gravil family - descendents of the guy who invented the Crampon) and make our way to the main bus terminal
      Just in time for it begins to rain again very steady.
      Lots of folks are at the station either abandoning the TMB all together or skipping today's stage and trying to move to the next one (The buzz is that it's not very nice "up there" with nasty bolts of lightning and overrun rivers and creeks)
      The 3 young kids behind Laurie 1st considered walking to the next stage via main roads not TMB but in the end, decided against it and caught the next bus behind ours to Chamonix and then will go to Austria 😄
      So perhaps it's all for the best anyway...
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Courmayeur, Курмаёр, Cort-Mayor, קורמאיור, クールマイユール, კურმაიორი, Курмайор, 코우르마이에우르, Curia Maior, کورمائر, 库尔马耶乌尔

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