The Road Trip: Leg 15 (to Chamonix)

Before we left Courmayeur, we stopped in a cute little cheese shop in town (the waitpeople were in traditional dress), and picked up some local offerings, including an interesting aged Fontina. Most Fontina is soft and a bit boring, though good for cooking; this was firmer and had a natural, cheese mitey rind, and actually had some flavor. Quite a find. We also grabbed some mocetta de cervo (deer bresaola) and lardo, ostensibly for our picnic lunch while hiking up on the mountains.

However, it was really hot. And after we spent some time checking out Aosta (which offers some nice views of the surrounding mountains, but isn't such an interesting town otherwise) we couldn't quite bring ourselves to find a trailhead and go hiking. Luckily, there were a few good turn-offs on the way out of the Valley, so we were able to "experience" a bit of the countryside.

The tunnel between France and Italy under Mont Blanc costs 35.10 E. At 7.25 miles, this is 4.84 E/ mi. And there's nothing to see besides the tail lights of the car in front of you.

It was something of a relief to cross the boarder back in to France; Italy was nice, but not speaking any Italian was a significant handicap. And we were finally able to charge our phone card. And the bread and pastries suddenly became fabulous. Etc., etc., etc.

The last time Julianna was in Chamonix with her family, they stayed in the Hotel Eden, so she contacted them for a reservation. Sadly, they didn't have any free rooms... but they did offer us a room in "the apartment" for the same price. While I thought it sounded a bit odd, and the price was a bit high, she went ahead and booked it.

What an incredible place. We had the run of a two bedroom suite, with a small kitchenette, a nice living room with a giant TV, complete with a couple of little balconies with great views of the mountains. The wifi worked well, so we were able to get Skype with our parents while nibbling on a bit of the cheese and salume we picked up earlier in the day. It was such a comfortable, relaxing time, and just made our return to France that much more satisfying.

While cheese and salume are good, they weren't quite enough for dinner, so we popped downstairs to the Hotel restaurant, and had one of the best meals of our trip. They were offering a limited, off-season, Summer menu, but the dishes were perfectly chosen; there were a variety of apps. and one meat, one fish and one veg. for the mains. We split a meal since we had already snacked, but the dishes were superlative. We started with a Tartelette d’oignon confit et fromage de chèvre which had a perfect, flaky crust, a light, goat cheese custard, and a delicious, surprisingly sweet red onion relish. Afterwards, the  Risotto aux asperges à l’ail was simply perfect; the risotto was soft and tender and spot on, and there was a bounty of tender little spears of asparagus. Those two dishes were revelatory, though particularly notable after our disappointment with our last couple of meals. We finished with a Crème brulée maison, made with lots of vanilla pod and topped with a crust neither too sweet nor too soft nor too thick... along with a great local (?) apple liquor of some sort as a digestif.

And to make the night complete, the owner was watching the Champions League final in the lounge as we floated away from the table, so I got to watch 30 mins. of "footie" as Inter beat Bayern Munich. It was an evening for the ages.


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