Campervan Therapy

Leaving the peace of the Aosta valley, we wrestle with the A4 before we turn off on the A26. The mountains reappear on the horizon like a mystical mirage. Seán has found a municipal camper-stop, or Sosta as they’re called in Italy, in Lake Varese’s Gavirate, a stone’s throw from its better-known cousin, Lake Maggiore.…

In the Valle di Gran San Bernardo, we’re spoilt for choice as to which walking trail to follow. But we have a mission, our good friend Pina, who lives in Aosta, is taking us up to see her husband, Salva’s, paintings which are showing in the Castello di Bosses and who can resist art and…

Just over the Piccolo San Bernardo Pass, we camp up at Arc en Ciel one kilometre walk from the town of Morgex. The terraced campsite is shaded with views of the glacier on the sharp toothed Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco. We fall asleep to the Dora Baltea River rushing by the campsite. The young…

We camp up on the outskirts of La Lechère merely because Marie France has a vacancy. We’ve got to stop before we face the road up to the St. Bernard Pass whose sheer drops are destined to send my nerves into overdrive and to have Seán demanding that I stop with the hand signals every…

Walking along Glenmalure Valley granite monoliths are engraved with past battles and leaders from 1580 and 1798. It’s hard to imagine battles raging in this valley though the ruins of the old barracks and the military road are reminders of turbulent times. We walk along the valley floor to the end of Glenmalure to the…