Lagio Maggiore, Day 1

Today mom, Zoe and I set out for Italy. I had originally planned on going to the Italian Riviera: the cinqueterre perhaps, or camogli, but was having too much trouble finding a place to stay. Instead, I found a fantastic looking place in northern Italy, familiar to many, but so far unvisited by any members of the clan: Lago Maggiore. I also looked a little into staying near the nearby and much more famous lake Como, but was immediately swept off my feet when I found an apartment for rent on the isola Pescatore. I was so excited, in fact that I immediately called my mom in the states and emailed her a picture. Soon after, I booked the apartment (apartment Da Giusi, which I found here). Beyond booking the apartment, I hadn't really spent too much time planning the trip, and we got off to a rocky start, driving past the restaurant at which we had hoped to eat lunch, and not arriving early enough at the Sacra di San Michele monastery in enough time to visit it. Instead, it was autoroute food for us, which turned out to be excellent and fresh! never underestimate Italian food, even in the most humble surroundings, I guess. From outside of Turin, it was a relatively short and uneventful drive up to Stresa. Although the posted speed limit is 130kph for most of the drive, it seems that that number is only a basic rule of thumb. However, since I was getting frequent speed camera warnings from the GPS, I kept it at 130. I was amazed to watch a moped pass me at this speed - he was probably doing 150 kph, which I did not even know was possible on a moped!

The apartment owner told us to park in Stresa, and catch a ferry from there to the island. For some reason, I had pictured Stresa as a sort of run down lakeside town -- a poor mans Como, if you like. Neither my mom nor I were prepared for the swankiness of Stresa. Upon entering the town, we were amazed to see gigantic beautiful villas lining twisting mountain roads. We eventually arrived at the riverfront, where we drove past stately hotels with sprawling grounds, just on the edge of the lake. There was also a beautiful and never ending lakeside park, with shade trees and an abundance of benches and fountains. After circling a little bit trying to figure out where to park, we eventually made it to the ferry terminal, where we got onto a ferry bound for Isola Pescatore. The boat was a source of much excitement for Zoe, of course!

We passed Isola Bella on the way, with it's impressive terraced gardens and palace, and after asking a few people eventually found our way to the apartment. The entire apartment looks like it has been recently refinished, with granite stairs and a cheerful coat of yellow paint on the exterior. It is hidden in the central shaded street which runs the length of the island. After settling in, getting a gelato or two

and taking a few photos

Zoe got some water time, and then it was time for dinner. The apartment proprietress recommended a restaurant at the end of the island called "Ristorante Italia"

As we were sitting down, a boatload (literally!) of musicians and instruments pulled up to the shore for a private catered dinner in the large dining room. We were out on a small gravel terrace, shaded by trellised jasmine vines. It had been a hot day, so the temperature was perfect, with a gentle breeze blowing in from the lake. There was also a beautiful view of the lake, and a young host (the son of our waitress), who immediately brought pens and paper out for Zoe to draw with.


The meal was wonderful: My mom chose the seafood salad, and I ordered a plate of Piemontese charcuterie


And we both ordered the Grigliata Mista -- which I always order, no matter where we go in Italy! It did not disappoint:

And finally, there was dessert:


Which was soon claimed to be "mine and only mine" by Zoe:

I should also mention that around 7:00 PM, the island totally clears out. It coincides with the last public ferries to the shore, and transforms Isola Pescatore into a quiet island village, mostly devoid of tourists like us. The waitress' son showed Zoe around the shore near the restaurant after dinner, calling for her attention by saying "Nina!" and then pointing to various things (sticks, flotsam that had washed up on the shore).


A few more photos:

Antiques, playground

After a quick lunch, everyone went to the centre ville to check out the antique fair. It used to be called Jambon Brocante, but is now called "Brocante & Saveurs", and is not quite as extensive as I remember, but still pretty nice. Mom was looking for an antique cane for Kenji, but was unsuccessful. I picked up an early 1920's set of aerial photographs of the area (Moucherotte, Grande Sure etc) which had been taken by the French military. You can even see the tip of a biplane wing on one of the shots. The kids got balloons, so they were content.

Next was second lunch at Pain&Cie


and then off to the playground


Which was miraculously not overrun with feral kids for once. Here is simon after drinking a six back of beers:

just kidding, parents!
Finally, it was time for ice cream at the Green Arch

The caramel is unbelievably good. Unfortunately, the Australians were unable to sample it because of the well known and often experienced bane of parental existence: a Poo Emergency (aka Poo Explosion).

into grenoble

We went into Grenoble for lunch at Paul, and to vieux campeur for CZ to buy some new trail running shoes.

Later, there was dancing

and cake!

and a story

Martigny with mom

Today my mom and I hit the road for the Fondation Pierre Gianadda. We drove through the beautiful valleys under le Mont Blanc,


past Chamonix, over the Col de la Forclaz (looks pretty nice for cycling, except for all the cars), and then down into Martigny. The museum was recommended by Franck, and my mom and I loved it (Thank you, Franck!!!). The collection is impressive, and the exhibition space is quite unique. There is also an excellent sculpture garden with golden waterfowl of some kind

and an underground automobile museum. The automobile museum was the only thing we were really allowed to take pictures of, so that's all I have, except for this picture of the central space

behold the cars:








From there, it was back to Grenoble. We stopped at a charming cafe at the col des Montets for drinks


And then decided to go through Albertville this time, and it took a looong time. We did stop to buy saucisson and Beaufort, which made the detour worth it.

cowboys in the wild west (of le Fontanil)

While I was cooking dinner tonight, I happened to look out the window and saw a Cowboy in front of the Boulangerie. After people started wheeling cameras, sound booms and lighting into the street, it became obvious that something exciting was happening. I rushed downstairs with my camera to capture the action, and watched the crew at work. They were having a lot of problems, stemming from the fact that they were filming on the main street, but they eventually got their shots. Examples of events that caused cuts to the filming were:

A delightful young man with a bottle full of hair gel and aviator sunglasses, who, incensed at having had to wait for three minutes, peeled out along the main street, almost running over the camera operator and the horse.

A woman, attracted by the excitement who was IN THE SHOT during filming (as in, in between the camera and the cowboy), who somehow escaped everyones attention until the poor cowboy had trotted the horse all the way from the bridge down past La Lutinière.

A shrill "DAAAADDY-O" emanating from a certain 1st floor apartment (The boom operator assured the cameraman that he could not hear it).

Mom here!

And she got a big Zoe welcome at the airport

Fair!

I managed to pick up some kind of stomach illness today, so I missed out on the fair. Chloe met Simon, Vanessa and the girls in St. Egreve, and a few hours later a very excited Zoe came running up the stairs with a green bag. After surmounting the final step of the staircase, I realized that she was beyond the normal states of Zoe excitement, and in the hyperexcited mode which only key words are expressed. In this case: "FISH!" "MY CAUGHT IT!" "DINNER" and "DESSERT"! It soon came out that there was also a donkey ride. I was of course, very jealous.







(photos by Simon and Vanessa)
Here is Zoe at home, right before the gutting and cooking of the fish. Zoe asked why the fish wasn't bouging (moving) anymore, but was perfectly happy to eat it. It was not the best fish I have eaten, and even Zoe soon gave up in favor of the excellent Salmon from the fish guy at the Fontanil market.

Chloe's race, energy bars

Chloe ran a ~half marathon with 1100 vertical meters of elevation gain today. Woo!

I was at home, getting tortured by the kids and decided to try to make energy bars again. I did this a few weeks ago from a recipe in Outside magazine, and they turned out pretty well. Full of energy bar hubris, I decided to try to make my own recipe. I wanted to achieve the following characteristics:

1)A good mix of high and low glycemic index components
2)Not too sticky or flaky: suitable for a cycling jersey pocket
3)Reasonable shelf life, or the ability to freeze the bars
4)Not be totally disgusting

High GI components are easy:
brown sugar
maple syrup (Actually, GI of only 55)
Lavender honey

Low GI components:
A big scoop of peanut butter (GI 23)
Dried apple
Dried Banana
Rolled oats (GI 50)

The bar relies heavily on the low GI rolled oats and high GI brown sugar, which are the major ingredients. I just added things to taste for the first try, but if anyone is interested I could weight out portions next time.

I mixed all the dry components in a bowl, with a little salt and cinnamon to taste, then heated up the brown sugar, honey and maple syrup until they formed a uniform syrup, then added the peanut butter. I then poured this mixture onto the dry mix, stirred, and put it all into a baking pan that I had lined with wax paper and dusted with more rolled oats. Next came more rolled oats to dust (the idea of the dusting is to make the outside faces of the bar less sticky and thus more easily stored in a jersey pocket without creating a giant mess) and a second piece of wax paper. Then I pressed it into as dense of a sheet as I could, let it cool and cut it into bars. They taste pretty good. We'll see about longevity, ease of handling etc.

Rain

I was planning on doing the Col du Coq today, but was feeling bad along the entire flat ride to the base, and then quickly ran out of gas on the climb. I've been feeling run down lately, and also made the mistake of taking an antihistamine, which I think conspired to put me into a perfect storm of weakness. About a third of the way up, I realized that it probably wasn't going to happen. And speaking of storms, I saw some menacing looking clouds off on the horizon. The clouds soon turned very dark indeed, and I found myself in the by now familiar situation of getting water kicked up in my face and getting compleyely soaked. It isn't really that big of a deal when you are on the valley floor, where it is warm and not very much braking is required. Still, it got a little miserable toward the end

Granier

A wonderful ride through the region around Granier, including three cols.