2026 – Europe

Best laid plans… got the 1st ferry of the day to Isola Bella (Beautiful Island) then missed where to queue for the palace/garden visit. Had a nice wander the through the old streets and a coffee before joining the still very long line with many tour groups. The palace personified wretched excess (DJT would love…

Off early to nearby Ricetto di Candela, a fortified refuge built in the 14th century to protect locals, crops, animals and wine during times of strife. It’s in remarkably good shape, one of best preserved in Europe. Photo ops galore. Drove north and east to Lake Maggiore. After passing through many tunnels you’re popped out…

We woke up to find the piazza below covered in trucks, vans and umbrellas. The weekly market was in full set up mode. Leaving Vercelli, our first destination was Parco Burcina in the Biellese Alps. A 1.5 kilometer hike way UP a rough gravel road brought us to the payoff – the rhododendron dell. Many…

Lazy morning followed by a great burger for lunch. Vercelli is a very pretty city with many beautiful old buildings with wrought iron balconies and towers, SO many towers. Adding to the charm was a walking/biking path around the old town. It’s lined with double and quadruple rows of giant chestnut and linden trees and…

Raffaella made us a delicious frittata for breakfast with vegetables we’d cooked last night. Said goodbye to the lovely couple from San Diego and then to Raffaella and headed north. We left the hilly, wine-making part of the Piedmont region and entered the flat rice producing area. Picnic lunch in a shady courtyard in Cella…

We felt the need for a lazy day – a little ‘dolce far niente’. Having thoroughly enjoyed our home-cooked meal last night, we decided to make both lunch and dinner at our hotel.  Drove to the weekly outdoor market in nearby Alba in search of ingredients but eventually got impatient with the inefficiency of the…

Back up to Barolo for lunch. We’d been noticing that literally every menu was the same with only very slight variations and we had gotten rather tired of the choices (cooked or raw beef, tripe or tongue, zero fish or chicken) offered. We stopped in for wine tasting at the place Scott described yesterday then…

Another gorgeous day, such a joy after cold and rain in Grenoble! Drove to the nearby hill town of Barbaresco and climbed the 5-story tower for a 360°, breathtaking view. Beautiful drive through vineyards and hazelnut, peach and cherry orchards. Parked below the hill town of Barolo and hiked up to find lunch and explore.…

This day’s breakfast spread was amazing … a huge and beautiful array of homemade cakes and breads, jams and spreads, fresh fruit juice and an honest-to-god chocolate fountain! Wandered around an enormous meat, cheese, fruit, vegetable, clothing and household item market then did a self-guided walking tour of old Asti. It’s a lovely town built…

One new thing in France that I will not miss is the large number of young men riding (silent) electric scooters at full speed down the sidewalk. Other than that, I’m sorry to be leaving this wonderful country but looking forward to a couple of weeks in Italy! We had a beautiful three plus hour…