Courmayeur

Courmayeur is sometimes called the "Italian" Chamonix--in many ways, however, we prefer it. It is more compact, less developed, less touristy. The Chamonix valley on the north side of the massif is broader, longer, the slopes less steep. On the south side of the massif, in Italy, there are two valleys, the Val Veny (west) and the Val du Ferret (east), meeting at Courmayeur. The slopes are much steeper, precipices mostly. And, from the Val du Ferret, Mont Blanc looks like the the monarch it is and not merely the super-sized snow hill one sees from Chamonix. Plus, the cuisine in Courmayeur is fontina cheese-based, which is lovely, if possibly not very good for your health, except in moderation, which is ridiculous. The only draw-back we observed is that the retail shops all take a 4 hour lunch break, noon to 4. Seriously.

After negotiating the one-lane mountain road of Vicki's worst nightmares, 

we arrived at the Campeggio Aiguille Noire, where we stayed 3 nights; the 

Aiguille Noire is sort of the Italian Aiguille du Midi, except far more steep 

and no cable-car; maybe two miles from Courmayeur

Our camp-site; 15 euros a night

In Courmayeur, the Penzione Venezia, where we stayed three nights in 2005; 

after a week in refuges and the tent, horribly cold and windy and wet weather, 

the incident with the red fox, we thought the Venezia was paradise; price for a 

double has increased from 42 to 50 euros

I have a favorite liquor store in Courmayeur: it is the one

that sells the wine in bottles with little historical vignettes

--dozens of them--the owner avers there is nothing political

going on here; apparently all the FDRs, Trumans,

Wilsons, et al., have sold out; not to worry, however,

plenty of Mussolini, Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Che, and

others remain

I wonder what Churchill would have thought of being

displayed with Lenin and Che

We also have a favorite restaurant in Courmayeur, the

Viele Pommier, which features fontina extravaganzas

View from our table, gazing up at the massif, the Dent du Geant, and the 

Grandes Jorasses

First course, for me, the crepes du Monte Bianco (crepes

in fontina cheese, cream, ham); for Vicki, the canneloni

with wonderful red meat sauce; the second (veal, ham,

fontina; frites) and third (myrtille mousse for Vicki,

lemon gelato for me) courses are not pictured because

we were too far into gluttony for photography

On the Piazza del Monte Bianco in

Courmayeur