Vernante, The Town

I can never get enough of Italy. But then I can never get enough of France. (Or Spain, or Portugal...). There was still much more of Italy to see, but then we have an engagement, a rendezvous, in France, and needed to move on. We drove up near the top of Lago Maggiore and then crossed over and dropped down by Lago Orta and drove its length, south, stopping for May Day parades in a couple towns. Some years ago we did a couple days and a hike in the Maritime Alps and had learned of an easy, if obscure pass that takes you from the Italian Maritimes down to France, then back into Italy and the beginning of its Riviera, but eventually to Menton and the Cote d'Azur. So after Orta we drove across the great plain, the white Alps always in view on our right, past Torino, past Cuneo, and up toward the Col de Tende and the way to France. After a day of driving, a large parcheggio  in Vernante, right on the river, beckoned, and we stopped there, in the company of some other campers, with enough daylight left to explore the little town.

Nice setting; the Alps still way too cold and snowy for us to consider; quel dommage

Walking en route to a sporting goods outlet at
the far end of town...a green man  reminiscent of
ours...

Pelerin showing leg

And back the main old street, past a bar displaying the old
practice of keeping your prized liquor  under lock and key

Old fortress ruins above, Tourusela, 13th century, guarding the pass

Interesting town church

With a really nice model

Great grandma playing kick ball with great grand-daughter

Street scene

Next morning we were off to the pass, stopping for a junque/collectible store
we had remembered from the previous crossing; it was much nicer then (see
http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/across-mountains-and-back-again.html)

Sadly, now, it was just junk

The Col de Tende pass nowadays is a 3km tunnel, one of two in this part of the
world, that is, connecting Italy and France; this one is one-way, with a
circulation alternee', and not so nicely furnished as the Mont Blanc tunnel; but
it works, and there is little traffic