Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Walking with Angels. Montjovet to Hone

Well, where do I start. When you walk like we do, you have to have the belief that all will turn out well.
We have just completed the most elaborate lunch you can imagine. The hotel we are staying in told us they are closed in the evening. I saw a few ladies eating in the dining room and asked if we could eat right now, it was 2pm. Yes,she said, but it is a cold meal. We said that would be fine. Madame commenced to fill up our plates from the various dishes on the table. We asked for our two standard beers and she sat us down outside on the patio. On our plate we had a fish roll, potatoe with a sauce, boiled egg in a sauce, pimento, sausage, fig, peach, cheese and buns. I had asked to see the room when we first arrived. I asked how much a room would be and she said 55E with breakfast. It is a very large room with ensuite and a king bed and absolutely spotless. I am getting a little ahead of myself. We went down for breakfast in our hotel in Montjovet at 7am. We were the only ones in the dining room, for that matter in the hotel. We sat down and the barmaid set place settings and brought us toast and jam and coffee au lait. I didn't really know whether the breakfast was included in the price but she didn't go to the cash register and give me the amount on paper. I shook her hand and thanked her, to which she was quite surprised. We started immediately from where we left off the day before, following the ministry route.Up and up we climbed, through the small paths winding up the mountain. We are following the yellows signs of the number 103. Eventually we came to a small hamlet with a sign indicating down, so into the hamlet we went. Then no more indications iof what direction to go. So up the mountain we go, hoping to find some indication farther on as is the case sometimes. We came upon a group of houses and all the Italian dogs alerted a lady and we asked her about the VF and which way we should go. Into the house she went and out she came with pen and paper( see photo).
After ten minutes and armed with a sure bet treasure map, off we went further up the mountain. Eventually we are down to a goat path and realize she is sending us completely over the top of the mountain and down the other side. We are talking about a real mountain here. I have always said, it is a smart person who knows when to cut their losses and change course. Back down the mountain we went, quietly past Madam's house all the way back to where we started in Montjovet. Not knowing quite what we should do, we pulled out Paul Chinns book. This is our default move, but in desperate times, we have to pull out all the straws. So I put away my remaining pole and with guide book in hand commenced to follow the right left moves that isn't my favourite way to get somewhere. But yes, it did get us to the town of Hone and the hotel Bordett. It took us off the mountain trails which I like, but there is something about getting to your destination the easy way. After checking the guide book we realize that they gave us a reduced rate for the room tonight. We have 50E including breakfast, that we use as a bench mark. We passed a number of small vineyards but eventually we came to a large commercial like operation near our destination and we couldn't curtail the urge for a small sampling.





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