Turin et Aix-Les-Bains

Two forms of art?

We had some food that we needed to take with us on our journey to Aix-Les-Bains but the local Carrefour solved that problem and we got a soft-sided chilly bin. 

Sometimes the GPS fails me and I end up taking the wrong road and that was the case when we missed our turnoff and ended up doing a long circuit to get on to the road to the Autostrada.  Once we were on it we got to Turin very quickly and  the car and I (and Bev) survived the drive into Turin.  We were very fortunate to have a car space  become

Graffiti as a an artform

The Cathederal soaring about everything

available just as we turned into a road and I managed to pop the car in there.  Its width makes it difficult at times as the car parks were made for a time when cars were much smaller.  The driving at times was slightly unnerving – a little bit like NZ but at slightly crazier speeds. 

We were in need of a coffee and fortunately there was a café nearby to re-energise us  before we walked around the central city (unfortunately there was only time for a short visit but it gave a taste).  There is a magnificent spire which we assumed was attached to a cathedral but time did not permit us to get that far.  The city was rather grimy and there was graffiti everywhere.  It seemed that hardly a building remained untouched.  The central square was massive and there were a number of colonnaded streets running toward the cathedral from it - very impressive.  The rest of the time was spent getting a gelato and then wandering along beside the Po River which runs through the city.  It was another place we marked as a potential for a revisiting.

It almost seemed pixelated

Then it was time to get back on to  the Autostrada and then the Autoroute all the way to Aix-Les-Bains, the final destination  being a late substitution for Chambéry and only a few kilometres north of it. There was another financial shock when we got a remote village in the middle of the alps.  A toll to go through yet another mountain, €44 or around $NZ75! 

Our arrival in Aix-Les-Bains was nothing less than stunning.  It was a beautiful clear sunny day and when we came around a slight bend there appeared a beautiful blue lake right next to us.  However it seemed that all the residents of Chambéry and Aix-Les-Bains must have had the same idea because there was an unbroken stream of cars promenading along the waterfront.  All the bikes passed them as they were going so slowly. 

I had earlier decided on a hotel but decided that since it was off -season we would not need to book. 

The Po River

Wrong!  We found it was heavily booked, but Bev was given another place for us to go to which was just around the corner.  I then had to use my French to book the room.  The woman was lovely and welcoming and spoke sufficiently slowly for me to understand what she was saying while I garbled on in bad French forgetting my conjugations and tenses.  At least we vaguely understood each other.  Bev loved the room.  It had a very red theme.  My challenge was a lock which required a bit of practice  to lock or unlock but eventually we got the knack.

Having settled ourselves in we went for a wander to see where we had landed.  It had a casino close by and there were restaurants galore  as well as a few bars.  We eventually found a wine bar we liked where we had a glass of wine and then decided on the restaurant opposite it for our meal only to find that it was fully booked. We ended up at another one where the food was ok but not great but at least it did not break the bank.  I had moules frites and Bev a Tartiflette, the local dish. 

Le fin du jour.

Main street Aix-Les-Bains?