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Published: January 25th 2015
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France/Italy border
The border between France and Italy. You can see the Alps mountain range in the background. As mentioned previously in one of my travel entries, when I was living in France, I used to make frequent day trips (mostly by car) in-country, as well as to neighboring countries. One of those journeys was to Aosta in Italy.
It was late August in France, nearly the end of summer. I wanted to take advantage of the remaining days of summer and decided to travel to Aosta the principal city in the Aosta Valley region of the Italian Alps. We left home very early in the morning as it was only to be a day trip. The distance from Bourg en Bresse, the city where I lived in France, and
Aoste (the French name fo Aosta) is approximately 235 kilometers or around 145 miles, and we were hoping to get there in about 3 hours with just one stop along the way.
We crossed into Italy at around 9 in the morning and stopped for coffee at Courmayeur a popular winter ski resort near the French/Italian border. Of course at that time there were no winter activities, but the small city was full of tourists anyway. Courmayeur is situated at the foot of Mont Blanc and is
Courmayeur, Italy
The resort town of Courmayeur in Italy. a picturesque town with spectacular views of the Alps all around. I was there several times during my 8 year stay in France, and have always enjoyed my visits.
To reach Aosta which is in the north western part of Italy, we had to pass through the Aosta Valley, the heart of the Alps. Now, this is one of the most beautiful regions in Italy, and I was filled with awe with the wonderful scenery. It is home to some of the Alps' highest mountains, with
Monte Bianco, Italian for Mont Blanc being the most well known. As we drove through this valley of green forests and breath taking sights, I couldn't help but feel grateful for nature's gift to man.
We arrived in the ancient city of Aosta well before noon and did some sightseeing, before having lunch at one of the restaurants in town. I wanted to see the statue of Romulus and Remus, the legendary twin brothers in Roman/Italian mythology who were raised by a wolf. I am sure some of our TB members know about their story as it continues to be told even today.
Aosta itself is an ancient Roman city, and
Italy
We saw this old castle on the way to Aosta. one can see some of the Roman ruins that still remain around the town, which is relatively small, and for the tourist, everything can be easily visited on foot in the course of a day. As in every European city, the main square with its old buildings is where the town hall is located, and a must see for all travelers.
I took many photos of my travels around Europe but unfortunately, I lost a lot of them, (many taken in the Aosta Valley) due to my several re-locations between countries/continents during the last 20 years or so. However, photos cannot depict the real beauty of a place, and you have to see with your own eyes to appreciate it. Therefore, I hope that one day, I will be able to return to all the wonderful places I was in before, and perhaps see some new ones too!
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