Courmayeur

Courmayeur- is that how one says food heaven in Italian?
As I write this I am stuffing my face with polenta and fresh mushrooms in the Italian ski town of Courmayeur.  We were up and moving quickly this morning. First stop was a cheese farm where Beaufort cheese is made.






 It is a tiny little place which produces two 80 lb cheeses a day.  Beaufort is top of the line Gruyere cheese and is delicious.  400 liters of milk are heated in a vat, formed and ultimately aged for six months.  The farm has a cheese cellar where the week's cheese is kept before being transported for storage and sale.  Each circle of cheese is stamped with the manufacture date.
From the farm we headed up to a mountain pass with another receding glacier on the next peak over.  We  passed  world war two bunkers built into the countryside to protect the soldiers and farmers of France from Mussolini's Italy.  We stopped at a couple of spots and at one watched a helicopter supply a mountain hut on the glacier.  It is basically a huge food drop off thecrated being carried below the helicopter. As we are spending tomorrow night at such a hut, we were glad to see food drops like this.  At the top of the pass, we crossed uneventfully into Italy if you do not count a horrid wind that almost pushed us over.  We descended and had lunch by a river, watching a herd of cattle with their loud bells sending music through the mountain.




We also watched more ultra race trainers run by.  They are all in absolutely perfect shape.  The afternoon was through rocky trails and occasionally off trail, I landed wrong on my left foot three times but at least stayed upright on the slur (tiny rocks on a slope).  The wind and slight rain picked up as we passed the other side of Mount Blanc and saw how the glacier descends on this side.  It is definitely more green ice.  At the bottom of the trail, we saw how a river and a glacier combine with the glacier water turning the river an aqua green.  Further along we found a steep road and then a forest trail before getting to Courmayeur.





It is nice to be back to civilized hotel facility, and the town is unbelievable, the food shops deserve the photos I have taken, pastas, fruits, meats, veggies, all amazing and I just finished my second course of mushroom pasta.  My stomach is full but maybe if I walk a bit, I can fit in some gelato later.