Hiking and relaxing in the Aosta Valley, Italy

We left Dubrovnik and had an overnight stop in Madrid, before flying to Geneva where we picked up our little VW Polo hire-car. Then, Heather was nominated as the driver while Adrian navigated us efficiently through the centre of Geneva and then onto Chamonix. Here, we stopped for a lunch of croissants, ham, cheese and tomato - it was good to be back in France. Then to shorten our journey into Italy, we went through the Mont Blanc tunnel. By late afternoon, we had arrived at a tiny Italian village called Valnontey, 3km from Cogne, in the heart of the Aosta Valley. Mountains surrounded us and the wildflowers were everywhere. We are staying in a very old stone farmhouse that has been converted into a hotel.

On the second day of our stay, we drove to Courmeyeur (1224m), where we caught various cable-cars up the mountain as far as Punta Helbronner (3462m). From the wooden Glaciers Terrace lookout, the views looking southeast over the Italian Alps were superb (see photo). When looking back, we had a clear view of Mont Blanc (4807m) and Aguille Du Midi (3842m), the latter of which we took a cable car to when last in Chamonix seven years ago.

The next day was reserved for Adrian's hike, and Heather's recovery time. After the abundant spread of breakfast that awaited us each morning, Adrian took off up the Lausson Valley hoping to pass through the Col Lausson at 3296m. We had heard that it was still snowed in and this was confirmed when he arrived at Refugio Sella half way up. He decided to walk up as far as possible before completing a loop back down. When the track finally disappeared into the snow, it was time to return, however, things became exciting when he came across 6 Ibex (mountain deer unique to the Gran Paradiso National Park) blocking the alpine path. He snapped a few photos before a couple of them started squaring up to face him - good time to walk a wide berth around them!

The last day was spent relaxing, wondering around the nearby village of Cogne, and then a short walk up the start of Adrian's hiking path where we saw a curious fox and a Chamois (mountain goat). The views were still fantastic (see photo - note the LOST orienteering shirt for those interested!) no matter where you looked. We finished the day with the obligatory 4 course meal of the evening. One of our favourite meals was the polenta with local fontina cheese - a Valdastone specialty.

Next, we drive to Lake Como where we'll be relaxing for a couple of days.