Monday 20th August: Weather 19°C to 27°C
Pont Saint Martin to Pont Boset DAY 1: 11k walk: 8.30am to 3.30pm: 7 hrs: 500m ascent 50m Descent
Accommodation: Ostello Lou Creton di Lui at Altitude 784 metres
Leaving Casa Antica
Through the terraced vineyards
Pont Saint Martin
Breakfast perched on a rock wall
Narrow streets of Bard
Fort Bard perched on a precipice
Beyond Hone up Camporcher Valley
Morning tea in Hone park
hanging road on steep valley sides
Too hot for a cap in the forest
Lunch in shade by waterfall
Lunch with view of Pont Boset
Wobbly bridge over waterfall
Pont Boset
Highlight to day was just getting started on our 21 day walk and finishing the 11 k unscathed at the respectable time of 3.30pm. We are already surrounded by 2000m + mountains and today the second half of the walk was quite spectacular us we climbed through a forest high above the Camporcher Valley.
Awake at 5.30am, a lot better than the 3.30am of previous mornings. The warm night has turned into a cool morning as we sit on the bed emailing and catching up while having a jetboiled cup of tea. The Casa Antica is advertised as a BnB but she doesn’t do breakfast anymore. Lucky the supermarket is just up the road and ay 8.30am after repacking and leaving a small suitcase behind for our return on September 9th, we’re in the Conad supermarket buying breakfast and lunch - fruit, yoghurt, tomatoes and cheese.
We’re headed for the ancient village of Bard just 5k up the road. At first the path passes through some terraced vineyards, but for the most part, the valley walls are so steep, the only way up the gorge is on the narrow footpath beside a busy road. After 2hours, there’s a side road where we stop to have breakfast perched on a rock wall. The peaches, nectarines and raspberries are to die for - juice running out of our mouths. The yoghurt is wonderfully creamy and soon we’re full. Continuing up the side road running beside the aquaduct we arrive at the ancient village of Bard. There’s a fort perched high on a rocky prominence above the town. Built in the 19th century by the House of Savoy, it has been completely restored after many years of neglect. We’re met by a stream of tourists walking our way up the narrow paved street - no cars allowed in Bard.
A stroll down the street and across the torrent and there’s a lovely little park opposite a bakery - too good to pass up for a cup of tea and 2 pastries from the bakery across the road - even though we just finished breakfast 30 minutes ago. Another 2 hikers walk by - they are doing the Francigena walk, an ancient pilgrim’s path which crosses Europe from Canterbury Cathedral and finishes in Rome. It’s mostly through lowland, not the Alps and these guys said it had been sooo hot. We had just past an Apotheke (Chemist shop) where their flashing sign indicated it was 27°C.
Heading off up the Camporcher Valley, the path soon crosses the River and climbs up and up through forest - it’s cooler than on the road, but we’re both sweating profusely even in the shade. The path is well graded and after 2 hours, we reach a waterfall where we can see the village of Pont Boset across the valley and about 2k upstream. This is a nice spot for lunch - not that we’re hungry having had a big breakfast followed by pastries and coffee for morning tea. Lunch is German rye bread, melted butter, tomatoes and cheese. Very relaxing beside a tumbling waterfall with our destination in sight.
It’s still another hour's walk down through the forrest to the old Roman bridge in the village of Pont Boset - it’s namesake. At an altitude of 784 metres, we’ve climbed about 500 metres today from Pont Saint Martin. Over the bridge and it’s only a short stroll through the narrow streets to our home for the night Ostello Lou Creton di Liu, a very old building high above the running stream. It’s had good reviews so we’re looking forward to our first night on the hoof. There’s a sign outside that says check in is at 4pm and it’s only 3.30pm, but there’s a small pagoda nearby where we have another cup of tea with the last of our pastries. I need to save room for a cold beer tonight!
It’s 4pm when the doors open and our host tells us the building dates to the 1600’s and was built for the priest of the church across the walkway. It’s extra cool inside. The walls are almost 80cm thick - good for coolness, not good for wifi.
After a really nice shower and a bit of blogging, it’s time to head up the road to Ce Isabel, the local restaurant. The beers are wonderfully cold and two beers later when we want to order dinner, we’re told in French (yes they speak French here as the Aosta Valley belonged to France yonks ago) that the cook doesn’t start til 8pm, and it’s now only 5.30pm. We don’t feel like another 10 beers, so back to Ostello to have our left overs of rye bread, melted butter, cheese and sweet mini tomatoes bought at the supermarket this morning. We’re in bed by 8pm ready for our next day’s walk of just another 10k with an ascent of 700 metres.