Verrayes and Aosta

Verrayes is a municipality of 1260 inhabitants spread in 37 tiny hamlets up a mountain side of plateaus in Valle d'Aosta. We are staying not far from the town hall where the view of the church below and the mountains the other side of the valley asks to be photographed. 

One of the main attractions is the Arboretum Pierre-Louis Vescoz which includes cedars and Douglas firs. We have a quick look the evening we arrive but it is too hot to explore uphill.

The next morning our friend sends us up by car to Colle Pantaleone. Excellent advice. The view of the valley, mountains and in particular Monte Cervino is spectacular!

We park near the chapel of San Pantaleone. From here, an easy mostly flat three-quarters of an hour stroll (hike is not justified) takes us to the Saint Evence chapel on a panoramic outcrop with stunning views all around from Monte Cervino, the Valtournenche, the central Valle d'Aosta and a glimpse of Monte Bianco.

We stop at base to get changed and so it's 11.30 by the time we park at the free car park at Funivia Pila in Aosta. It's hot. Hotter than I expect and hotter than Novara down on the plain the morning before. It's only a few minutes walk from the car park to Torre del Lebbroso where the historical centre of Aosta starts but by the time we hit some shade I'm already melting.

We get to the cathedral as the bells toll midday, some indignant Spanish tourists are unceremoniously evicted and the doors firmly closed. 

The façade is beautiful and some consolation but heat and hunger prevail so we decide to look for lunch somewhere cool. Our luck of the day before does not hold out. Despite the 4.7 on Google maps the food at Piazzetta leaves us missing Moussaka the day before. Antipasti with lard, except it's not lard, lukewarm reheated cannelloni, industrial gnocchi in a tasteless white cheese? sauce, badly made polenta with 'carbonada'. Sigh. All made worse by the fact we are told to eat outside because it's cooler. It is really really hot under a thin umbrella and I would have found it hard to enjoy much better food. When I go inside to pay I'm annoyed to realise that the empty! interior is cool and fresh. We manage not to argue with each other when we realise that the place we were heading for when I 'discovered' Piazzetta has exactly the same menu and decor.

It's still hot and we're grumpy but the church of the Chiesa Collegiata dei Santi Pietro e Orso restores our good mood. The outside with the bell tower is nice and we get a glimpse of the cloister. Inside it's blissfully cool after the baking heat. We linger to look at a few frescoes, the crypt and the fascinating carvings in the choir.

We leave as a funeral arrives. An ex-partisan, because there's the town band which plays 'Bella Ciao'. Outside, unsurprisingly, it's still hot and so after peering through the gates of the Roman Amphitheatre which is closed, and wandering the streets and squares, we go in search of coffee. 

Nowhere inspires (we are hot and tired!) but eventually down a side street we go into Fashion Café. Here, a friendly welcome, a coolish draught and coffee and water revive us a little.

Back at the cathedral, it's now open and better than the pictures on Internet. A Grest (summer group for kids) arrives and there's some singing.

Time to go back to the car. The thought of the walk in the sun is off-putting but in the end a lucky cloud protects us as far as the supermarket where we buy juice and water. I expect the car to be hot but when its thermometer remains on 36° I understand why the heat was bothering me.

The evening on our friend's cool terrace in Verrayes with a splendid view of the mountains awaits us.