VAL D'AOSTA

a region, rich in natural beauty and monuments, witnesses of an ancient and glorious history.

Our travels in the Val D'Aosta Region

It has been many years since we travelled this Region which is at the top north-western part of Italy.

The region is bounded by the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region of France to the west, Switzerland to the north, the Italian region of Piedmont to the south. Because of its location, Italian and French are the two offical langues of the Region. There is a distinct dialect in the Region so at that time, my limited French and Italian were not much use!

At one time we would pick up our car in Paris and then drive to Italy. This is the Region of Italy as you leave the Mont Blanc Tunnel. (As a pen guy, I just had to drive the Montblanc Tunnel. Not sure what I was expecting in it, a Montblanc pen boutique?)

It is a small region, and I still remember the gray rock and an austere appearance of many of some of the towns. The towns were what I was expecting... the ski chalet villages but rather historic centres.

We drove from France through the Monte Blanc tunnel and then drove though Courmayeur and Oasta, Fenis, Issogne and some of the other towns where castles or fortifications still stand.