travel

Wednesday: Saluzzo

Posted on by Susan

We drove to Saluzzo today, a medieval city that is about an hour from where we are staying. The fog was very thick when we started, but as we drove up in the mountains a bit it became much clearer.

We got to Saluzzo on their big market day and many roads were closed off in the center of the city. We drove around for a while before finding parking on a side street – it seemed that everyone in Saluzzo was at the market.

We checked out what they were selling: meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and clothing, shoes, household items. The market was similar to the one in Alba on Saturday, but still fun to walk around.

We had wanted to tour La Castiglia, a castle there, but it was not open today. The ancient church was closed for a funeral. No matter – it was still quite a beautiful town to walk around. We bought some tomatoes and a couple kiwis.

We had lunch at a busy restaurant with a fantastic buffet. Again, it seemed as though everyone in town was there. We headed back to Alba after buying a few bakery treats at a forno – a bakery – we walked past as we went back to our car.


photos: the ancient city; at the market; decorated streets for a festival this weekend

Monday: Barolo

Posted on by Susan

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We drove from Alba to Barolo this morning, a quick half hour trip to a very charming wine city in the Piedmont area of Italy.
There was a fantastic wine museum there with information about the history of Italian wines of the area and some exhibits of how wine has been made through the years and ways it is used. There were just a small group of visitors there, so it was a good day to go.

We explored Barolo on foot and found that the city itself is small. The vineyards around the city center are beautiful – we saw them as we drove around after lunch at a small restaurant we found.

We drove back to where we are staying, and Alba seems very quiet today after their wild tartufo festival yesterday.

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Saturday, Alba

Posted on by Susan

Saturdays are the huge market day here, and I walked over early to see what it was all about. I was in search of fruit and vegetables, but there were streets full of everything else: men’s and women’s clothes, shoes, purses, and all sorts of household goods. The tables were chock-full of merchandise. I walked around for about an hour, then went back to where we are staying so the two of us could check things out.

We took a different route and eventually came upon the produce I was looking for.

After coffee, we dropped our bags back at our apartment and headed toward our tour of underground Alba. By now – 10:30- the streets were full of people, children, strollers, and dogs, and it took some time to get around.

We eventually found the meeting place. We knew the tour would be in Italian, but they gave us the script typed in English, which was nice and helpful.

It was interesting to see what archaeologists uncovered under the streets of the city, some under a church, a bank, and the police station.

The tour lasted about two hours and we had lunch at our apartment then walked around some more, this time in a direction we had not checked out before. We eventually headed back to make dinner.


photos: fruits and vegetables at the market today

underground Alba

the busy market

Friday: Alba

Posted on by Susan

We continued to explore Alba on foot today and made plans to take a tour of the old underground city tomorrow. It should be interesting.

We had a lunch in an underground restaurant today, coincidentally. The storefront is on street level but once through the door, there are steps down.

The sand sculpture artist from yesterday was back today making an identical dog. I went for a run and passed his spot at 8am. He wasn’t there yet. An hour later when we walked by, he already had most of the dog sculpted. So it seems to be a sand art scam and he will do great with it this weekend, I’m sure.

photos: early morning in the city

pigeon on the back terrace

pigeon on the lunch menu

Thursday: Alba

Posted on by Susan

Wow, Alba is a nice little city! Today we walked around to get acclimated to the area. Its population of 30,000 will balloon to 100,000 with the big white truffle festival this weekend. Already there are signs the stores and restaurants are getting ready, with canopies out on the sidewalk on some streets.

I mentioned in my post yesterday that we mistakenly drove into a piazza area that is restricted from most car traffic. The sign, in Italian of course, says that a camera will photograph the license plates of vehicles that enter, and a fine issued. Our host translated that for us last night.

So we stopped in at the tourism office this morning and asked for their guidance so we could pay the ticket before it got to our car rental company. The tourism agent made some calls, then had us follow her upstairs to the police department. They checked their records and couldn’t see our car’s data on file, so maybe we are in the clear. Occasionally the camera isn’t on or a car is blocking its view. Regardless, we were grateful for their help and it sounds like we probably saved 80 Euro.

We have a decent-sized kitchen here, so made porcini mushroom pasta for dinner.

All is well in Alba, Italy.


photos: a surprisingly realistic sand sculpture

bottom: white truffles under glass with their individual prices, which range from about $10-$30 each. Crazy and weird.

street performer

Wednesday: Alba

Posted on by Susan

Despite falling in love with Lyon, we left the city this morning. We would love to come back. For now, we are enjoying Alba, Italy.

Alba is about a four-and-a-half hour drive from Lyon and we stopped a few times along the way. We arrived in the city close to 4pm and initially had some trouble figuring our where our Airbnb actually was. The google directions put us in a busy piazza area. We finally figured it out and were delighted to check in to our Alba apartment.

Our host was kind and spent some time getting us situated. He told us that the white truffle festival is going on this weekend, so we are looking forward to crowds of people and some delicious food. He also let us know about the farmers markets going on three times a week and other cities in the area we may want to visit.

We walked around this evening to check out what’s around and bought some local salami from a butcher nearby, who also got us to try some hot peppers in olive oil. We ended the evening with some gelato, which cannot become a habit despite the shop being next door to where we are staying.

photos: the Italian Alps looking beautiful on a fall day

below: trying some hot red peppers

Alba this evening, the banner is for the Truffle Festival on Sunday

Tuesday: Lyon

Posted on by Susan

It poured all last night and a good part of today – the best reason to take a tour of the city via the hop-on, hop-off tour bus. We enjoyed seeing and hearing about an overview of many parts of Lyon and never hopped off the bus until the last stop.

It was a good day to check out Pralus Lyon, a bakery known for its praline and chocolate breads and it is mainly what they sell. I walked there in a downpour (why not) and was happy to leave the store with a small loaf of praline. It is delicious.

We finished the day meeting our daughter’s friend for dinner. She lives in Lyon and had lots of interesting insights about life there. It sounds grand.


photos: top – praline loaves

bottom – short, squat variety of zucchini that seems common to this area

L’epicerie, a nice place for dinner tonight

Monday: Lyon

Posted on by Susan

Today was a beautiful Monday, close to 80 degrees and sunny. We took advantage of the nice weather (it is supposed to rain all of tomorrow) and walked around Lyon for most of the day, checking out some shops and enjoying the architecture and the old city.

It is remarkable how many restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries are here – one right next to another – and they seem to be thriving. It is a beautiful old city.

photos: 222 steps going up ( and down)

below: peanut butter, apple, walnut toast for breakfast

beautiful old buildings are throughost the city.

Friday: Clermont-Ferrand

Posted on by Susan

We drove from Saint Emilion to Clermont-Ferrand today, about a four-hour trip. We had such a nice stay in Saint-Emilion and now have bottles of wine to enjoy for the rremainder of our trip.

We stopped at about 12:30 for lunch at a place I discovered online: Chez Juju. It was the only restaurant around and we had to drive along narrow roads to get there.

When we finally arrived we saw it was a very cute place, but just eight tables, all full. The owner said we could wait, which we decided to do since we had no alternative. There was nothing at all around.

We soon got a table and enjoyed a delicious lunch. The owner serves everyone the same lunch fare and changes it each day. Today: pate and salad; chicken, rice, cauliflower; cheese; walnut cake. plus house wine. It was a nice treat.

We continued on to our destination, an old city with breathtaking views, inactive volcanoes, a university, and lots to see. We will do all that tomorrow.


photos: all beautiful cows, all we saw today while driving.

Wednesday/Thursday: Saint-Emilion

Posted on by Susan

Our castle room is fantastic! What a lucky find on Airbnb.

Our hosts, Annick and Pierre, run the vineyard here and it has been in the family for four generations – five now that their son is out of college and actively working in the business.

We enjoyed a tour of their impressive wine-making operation where wine is still made traditionally – quite a tedious process from what we observed. Some of their equipment, like the numbered vats where the wine ferments – were made in the late 1800s. They produce about 45,000 bottles of wine annually. We tried some from 2016, 15, and 14, and liked it a lot. Yes, of course we got a few bottles to take with us.

Our small room in the castle is almost unbelievable, with ancient stone walls and very old solid wood furniture. It is much warmer here than in Ireland but the castle is probably naturally cool all the time. (It does not have wifi or television, and electrical outlets are scarce.)

Annick dropped off a fresh baguette and her own jam this morning and I met up with her after my run into town. (I thought I had woken up just before 7am, but with the time change it was actually an hour later. I guess I was tired after our long drive yesterday.) She is a schoolteacher and told me kids have school from 8-5 just four days a week, off on Wednesday.

We explored Saint-Emilion, full of many wine shops, cheese shops, and plenty of restaurants. The streets are very narrow and ancient, and sometimes tricky to walk on with their sharp, jutting rocks. It is beautiful and charming to walk around and very interesting to drive around. Grapes are harvested this time of year and workers are in the vineyards getting the job done.

photos: above – the door to our castle room.

below – wine vats from the 1800s, still used

bottles of wine produced by the vineyard