A few points from Pont

So we arrived in Pont, Northern Italy, on Saturday evening in the pouring rain. It was a very harsh contrast to our idyllic Tuscan hidaway.

However we got settled in the hotel, had a cup of coffee and planned the next few days.

Pont is located in the Gran Paradiso National Park, Aosta Valley and is basically the set off point for climbing and walking in this part of the Italian alps. This was very much a part of the trip that was centered around Dad, especially as he is going to try and climb Mont Blanc in July.

Sunday dawned free of rain so it was into the walking gear and after brekkie up the hill.

All told the walk took 6 hours. 2 up to the Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele, 2 walking along the ridge lines to the Rifugio Chabod and then 2 down to the valley floor. I'm not too proud to say that it was very tough and the altitude (the highest point we got to was 2750 meters) was hard to deal with. The rain that started about halfway between the two refuges also didn't help much.

However despite all that it was a spectacular walk and well worth the effort.

On Monday Dad set off to try and walk into France and Mum, Liz and I decided to explore the valley a little more. It wasn't all that successful and I would have to say that if you are going to the region just do the walking. Aosta was a nice town, but the Roman ruins that we went to see were mostly covered up and the other valley we went to was not quite as nice as the one we were staying in. We returned to Pont about the same time that Dad got back.

After our evening wander near the hotel we returned to find a small group of Ibex grazing near the hotel. They also gave us an impressive display of their rock climbing and head butting abilities.

This was our last night in Italy so then it was time to pack and clear out all of the photos from the camera in preparation for the next leg of the trip, Germany!