Chim, chim, cher-ee

We are making our way slowly along the Via Francigena. Spending two nights in one place gives us a full day to explore the area unencumbered with our full panniers. The town we are staying is called Fabbrica (factory) in Italian and Fabrique (made) in French. Perhaps the industrial factory buildings by the river have something to do with the name. Fabbrica, a relatively ‘new’ town, was the closest AirBnb to Verres’, the medieval borgo and the “official” pilgrimmage stop on the Via Francigena. So, today we cycled into Verres to get my pilgrim passport stamped, then went for a hike. We locked our bikes on the cobbled street that morphed into a wide cobbled staircase at back edge of town, which led to a steep rock staircase that climbed through an “arboretum” up to the top of Monte Cogne. Along the trail there were lots of wildflowers (penstemon, phlox, salvia, campanula), succulents and grasses in rock crevices, chestnut and oak trees. The path is called “Castles Trail” because several castles (in ruins or tour-able) can be seen along the way. Climbing above towns, one also notices a lot of roof tops, and…chimneys. Quite a variety of very odd chimneys. Apparently it is quite the thing in Val d’Aosta. In fact, Robert Berton wrote a book about it. The “Chimneys of Val d’Aosta” features drawings of 97 unique chimneys in the area, however it is in French, so I don’t know if the author offers any information about history. This book was amongst our host’s eclectic collection of art, books and tchotchkes in our AirBnb apartment. Speaking of our loquacious host, the extra photo is Barbara, tending to her early morning chores, looking quite the fashionable farmer.