Water, water, everywhere!

Monday 18th June

Before leaving Turin this morning we visited one last sight - a church we could see high on a hill overlooking the city. The church looked pretty spectacular from a distance and we felt that the views over Turin would also be great. The basilica was called La Superga and was built by the Savoie family when they were in power. The size of the church was quite amazing - it is huge with a very high dome, but wouldn't hold too many people. Is it a case of mine is bigger, and better, than yours?

Basilica La Superga.

Besutiful colours in the marble.

Loved the light in this dome but not quite captured in the photos.

The view from the church over Turin. It was hard to work out
where the city was where we'd been the day before.

From there we moved on towards Lago Maggiore which was to be our next stop for 3 nights. This drive was mostly on motorways and main roads, which for the most part were straight and not mountainous. Rob enjoyed the drive because it was not as on and off as the narrow, twisty, hilly french roads. A lot of corn cropping on the early part of the trip, and later, rice. At one point as we were cruising along near one of the big towns I joked to Rob that maybe I'd better get the camera ready for the 'lunchtime ladies'. I was joking, but next thing there they were around the corner. One of them would have had no trouble getting her all over (or close to) tan.

Rather than go in to one of the big towns looking for lunch we headed for a small town, Cameri, we could see just a couple of k off the main road. I figured it must be a reasonable size as I could see 2 church spires. We pulled up in the main square where there looked to be 2 eating places, and as we were standing around figuring out where to go, a lady came out of the tabac and suggested a place around the corner. This was a great find - for 10euro each we had pasta, veal scallopine, grilled veges, wine and coffee. Very nice meal and a lovely friendly owner.

Our hotel for 3 nights - we paid only a few euro more and we have a bathroom big enough to dance in, big towels, king size bed, and huge choice for breakfast. Very nice!

Tuesday 19th June

Today we headed up the lake to the town of Stresa where there is a cable car that takes you to the top of a mountain, Mattarone. 1491m. The ride to the top involved 2 cable cars and then a chair lift. The chair lift was a bit more upmarket than the one on Capri. It's used for access to the ski fields in winter as well as for sightseeing in summer. The views from there were spectacular looking northwards to the Swiss alps and west to the Italian alps. Just magic!

Looking North.
This peak is in the Swiss mountains.

West to the Italian alps.

Lago Maggiore.

The last part of the trip to the top was in the chairlift.

From there it was then a scenic drive back down another of the lakes, Lago d'Orta, and back to the hotel. This lake is obviously the 'poor relation'. Definitely not as touristy  and quite a few camping grounds along the shores. Talking camping - we have seen a lot less motor homes than we saw throughout France.