Treiso, Italy, April 21, 22

 We were a bit melancholy leaving Beaulieu-sur-Mer. We treated ourselves, Norman and Jane, to our first croissants since Arles, as we have resisted them. But, it seemed fitting to have them as we were leaving France.

  We left the apartment around 10 a.m. We drove through Eze by the sea and up to the Middle and then the Haute Corniche overlooking Monaco. And, the day was perfect - sunny, blue skies and in the low 80s. A good day for driving.
   

We took the motorway into Italy. (Cost: $22.00) When we left the motorway we encountered very secondary roads through small villages into the mountains. We stopped for a bathroom/petrol stop in one village where the grumpy owner of the restaurant/gas station could not even be bothered to help us find the toilets and watched Barbara wander around the building. Then, after Mark put in 20 Euros into the pump, we could not get the pump to respond.

We tried various things, including trying to cancel the process and even switching pumps as we weren't sure which one we had "clicked." After about 10 minutes, Mark approached a younger man who drove in and asked him. He spoke a little English and went to talk to the grump who said that the pumps were broken! And, we feel that, without the young man, he counted on us driving away minus gas and minus a refund. He reluctantly handed Mark over 20 Euros. These can be the challenges of travel when you don't speak much of the language, but certainly not enough to dampen our enthusiasm for our surroundings.
   As we approached Treiso, the vineyards began to appear as well as prosperity. We found Ada Nada, a winery/bed and breakfast via some roads that are really more like one-way driveways.

    Ada Nada is a real find. The setting on a hill overlooks vineyards and villages and villas. The bed and breakfast has 11 rooms. Ours is a veritable luxury suite with a sitting room with a little balcony and a fireplace. Then, there is a walk-in closet, a huge tiled bathroom and a luxurious, large, and very pink bedroom. Wow!

    We drove into town as it was past 2 and we were really hungry. All the standard restaurants were closed, but we were directed to Profumo di Vino where we ordered a mixed plate of cheeses and meats. And...what a feast! One of the meats is from the town of Bra, famous for its sausages.  Wow. We certainly had no need for dinner. In addition, the restaurant is the site of the Barbarescu wine collective of the area and the proprietor explained a bit about Barbarescu and Barolo wines. The restaurant used to be the church rectory and is attached to the old church there.

    We came back and relaxed. Barbara spent time by the pool reading and listening to German, Italian and French as the bed and breakfast filled up.
     The next morning we got up rather early, but not in time for sunrise. We took a little walk up the hill and took in the absolutely gorgeous views of the vineyards and the hill towns. Tractors and trucks were already at work.

Then - on to an amazing breakfast.....It would be a long list to just write what was on the table. Lots of cheeses, meats, lemon cake, chocolate coconut cake, apricot tart, potato and pesto tart, fruit salad, breads, yogurts, not to mention cappuccinos and fruit juices. We met Anna Lisa, the owner, an energetic young woman with 3 daughters. She runs the bed and breakfast and her husband runs the vineyard. She made us reservations at an osteria in town.

     After breakfast we went into Alba, about 7 kilometers away. As it happened, they were having a wine and food festival and the various squares will filled with tents selling all kinds of things. We were enchanted with the town and wandered.
We got some sausage and cold cuts and ate standing at one of the tables. Barbara also had some ice cream.

At night we went to the Trattoria Risorgimento in Treiso, as recommended by the owner of Ada Nada. We ate outside and were introduced to Jackie, an American who is working in the kitchen. She has been there for 5 years, an energetic young woman now fluent, of course, in Italian. She and the head chef, the daughter of the owners, explained the menu completely. Mark had a ravioli starter with cold pork loin and roasted vegetables. Barbara had a marinated beef dish as a starter with ravioli as the main course. All excellent and good conversation with the owners as well as a German hiking couple next to us.