The clouds and drizzle did not bode well for seeing mountainscapes, so we decided to visit one of the castles for which this valley is famous. There are at least a dozen that dot the landscape along the main highway that crosses the valley.
We headed to the town of Nus to visit the Fenis (FAY-neess) castle. Up the hill from the parking lot stands a 14th century castle, complete with battlements and a labyrinthine structure. We picked our way through a couple of very loud and boisterous groups of Italian school children. The man at the ticket booth informed us that the next tour was in twenty minutes, and there is no entry without a tourguide. So we sat down on a damp bench and waited our turn amidst the crowd of
sixth graders (I'm guessing). I'm not sure how their teachers herded them - they seemed so out of control. At one point they nearly knocked our kids over in a footrace they held. Solanne asked why big kids didn't know how to behave but that little kids like them did. I was proud of her for noticing that a little self-control and self-awareness goes a long way.
Maia's favourite part of the castle was the canopy bed in the lord's chamber; I must admit, I wouldn't have minded that grand chamber, either. We managed to follow along on the Italian tour and translated for the girls, to boot.
After the tour, we picnicked at the park next to the parking lot. More kids were there - perhaps the same ones. There were play structures, so we let the girls loose as we finished our lunch in relative quiet.
The park was the girls' favourite part of the day, and why not? There was a long slide, some swings and the coolest park zipline we've ever
encountered. They must have tried it a couple of dozen times each.
We managed to pry them away from the park with the promise of more adventures. We headed back to the town of Aosta, where we visited ancient Roman ruins. It turns out the Romans had built an outpost here in 84BC, and named it Augusta (which over the centuries became Aosta). The town boasted a large arena that seated up to 35,000 spectators. The ruins aren't as vast as those in Rome, but are somehow more
awesome given the geography. At the time Aosta would have been very isolated, and somehow these clever Romans managed to erect such amazing buildings.
There were no cats among the ruins here, bit there were plenty of lizards to capture the girls' attention.
We walked up and down the main shopping street, bought a few things: new pants for me (I'm a little tired of the same two pairs), t-shirts for the girls, and some Playmobil, mostly for Solanne who has more than once wistfully and almost tearfully (though not whiningly) talked about how much she misses playing with her Playmobil. Maia chose a woman sitting in a hammock; Solanne chose a woman in a lounging chair and a boy in a little pool - both scenes are reminiscent of hanging out at Nico's house in the sun.
Late in the afternoon we drove back to the apartment to freshen up for dinner, then we drove back into town to a Slow Food restaurant.
Even the setting was elegant: down a narrow alley lit up with tiny white lights on bows that arc over alley. We ate traditional Valdostano food. We began with plate of local salumi, including a skinny sausage that was such a dark red that it was nearly black. If I'm not mistaken it contained beets, as evidenced by its taste and its colour. For primi Derek had a cabbage soup that was prepared like French onion soup, with thick crusts of bread soaked in the broth and a melted layer of Fontina cheese to cover it. I shared a fondutta with the girls: melted Fontina cheese in a fondue bowl, served with croutons, which you put in and fish out with a spoon - almost like
eating cheese soup! For secondi, we all shared two bowls of polenta, one made with melted Fontina cheese, the other served in a bowl of fresh cream. Polenta is local concoction of cornmeal, and I never fail to feel full after about four spoonfuls. It's easy to understand how this would be the perfect mountain food! We capped off our dinner with gelato with walnuts, for Derek and Maia, and a chestnut cake with a sweet nutty drizzle for me and Solanne.
For the first time this whole trip, Derek and I walked away from a restaurant full but not bursting at the seams. It took nearly four weeks, but we finally discovered the trick to not overeating: don't order separate meals for kids; instead, just order two of each course, and share with them. Too bad it took us this whole trip to figure it out. I guess we'll just have to come back...
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