Leaving Eybens and Grenoble behind, we headed out towards the famous Alps d‘‘Huez. We traveled up the mountainous road along the river, cheering on the many cyclists who were on there pilgrimage to cycling Mecca. Somehow we missed the turnoff to do the full Tour de France route, but by the time we figured that out we were too far along, so we continued on over the rugged mountains and into Italy. Soon I was out of map and we were following only Trexie, our GPS. I felt a little lost and out of control without my paper map.
Our B&B is owned by Fabrizio and his American wife, Marla. They were off with a group of Brits who were staying there, tasting the local cheeses and wines. We were warmly welcomed by Mama Elge who showed us our room while rattling off her welcome speech in Italian a mile a minute. We settled in and Don went into the salon to download his photos and go online. As I was leaving our room to join him, Mama caught me and invited me to come up to her apartments for coffee
Mama and I had a long chat about many subjects--her family history in this location, our sons, the coffee, the beauty of the mountains and the view, my grandchildren--I showed her the photos on my calendar. Surprisingly, I understood much of what she said and we had a good conversation. Finally I scusied myself and went down to check with Don.
It was time for us to go to the next village to join our hosts and the Brits for a dinner of local products. We got to the village and there was no sign of a restaurant, but we parked next to the Bella Baita van and as we got out of the car, here came Fabrizio sashaying down the cobblestones, singing a welcome to us. He was followed by the group of Brits, who looked a little befuddled and lost because they, also, were not sure where we were going.
Around the corner, down an alley, turn right, through a secret passage into the heart of the medieval village, and here we were at the restaurant. We were welcomed in by a sweet petite Italian signorina, and we all sat down and introduced ourselves. Marla joined us as well. Our co-diners for the night were very nice people and we enjoyed chatting with them through the antipasto, the wild game, the veg, the cheese and the dessert. There was plenty of wine to go around and we all enjoyed our meal and our company.
Now it was dark as pitch and time to go home. Because it was just the two of us, Don and I got a head start and we made our way along the highway and up the narrow, winding road back to Bella Baita and off to bed, stuffed and satisfied.
Bravo, what a fun evening, I can just picture you with all the Brits, Don must have really enjoyed that. the B&B looks really fun, I don't know how you always manage to find such wonderful places. Enjoy.
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