Day 10 – Sauze d'Oulx, Italy, aka…The Shining

The weather was so nice, we were able to sleep with the balcony doors open to the lake and woke up to an incredible morning view. Breakfast on the terrace followed and my normal need to “rough it” was being greatly challenged. This was nice! I loved Varenna…did we really have to go? Rather than doing our normal early morning exit, we stayed in Varenna until noon (slight itinerary deviation). 

It was a 3 hour drive to Sauze d’Oulx and everything I read made it sound like Lake Tahoe in the summertime — hiking, biking, snow lined ridge trails, alpine lakes, etc. It’s a ski village that hosted some of Torino’s Olympic games and in the summertime is also suppose to be a mountain retreat with Italian Alps hiking trails reached via the chair lifts. My definition of summer is June, July & August. It would seem I made a terrible error in assuming that I was in alignment with the Italians in the area. 

Sauze d’Oulx sits high up in the Italian Alps. There was still a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains. As we approached the hamlet, it was eerily quiet, basically devoid of any population other than some building workers. The cottages, resorts and hotels were boarded up with signs that said “closed.”

The Albergo Assieto was the only place that showed any activity. A few area locals seemed to be enjoying an afternoon lunch on the terrace. They all looked confused as we approached with our backpacks. The owner, Marina, checked us in, giving us our choice of 2 rooms. We asked about activities. Here is the conversation:

Matt: “So any suggestions on what we should do?”

Marina: “No, it’s not summer yet. no bikes, no trek, no lifts, you can maybe walk to the neighboring hamlet and bring with you a nice Panini for lunch…yeah?...you might like that?”

Suzanne: “What does it look like there?”

Marina: “Same as here. You get there and then look back to see here.”

Since the ski lifts were closed, we could not reach any of the trails and Marina once again reminded us that there was nothing to do here until summertime.

The problem…I had booked a 2 night stay here.

During every trip, there is usually a big laundry day. Since there was nothing to do, I made this our laundry day and spent 2 hours hand washing all our clothes. While I did laundry, Matt got on the phone to our B&B in Chamonix, France and asked if we could add another night’s stay by arriving a day early. Fortunately, they were able to take us. In the early evening we strolled through the abandoned village. The only noise was the hourly church bell. A few locals were spotted and they looked very surprised to see us. I did discover a very cool Pringles Dispensor and an interesting "Adults Only" vending machine with multiple types of condoms and lubricants for all needs. This place must be CRAZY in the winter!

There was a pub below our room that was open for those who happened to wander in, so we were able to get some dinner. The local Australian shepherd, Fiuto, was temporarily my best friend while he patiently waited for me to give him pieces of ham from my pizza. The waiter recommended a local beer and it was great. It made The Shining Hotel seem a little friendlier. 

 After dinner, Marina came over to give us a map of the area that showed all the things we could not do. Matt kindly informed her that we would be leaving in the morning instead of staying 2 nights. She agreed that was best and told us to come back and see her in the winter. It turns out that Marina’s husband was a top 10 European ranked downhill skier in the mid-80’s. She gave us some history of the area and shared some stories about when the Olympics were there. The hamlet spent a lot of money building a freestyle skiing venue. They used it for 12 days and it has sat unused since. Marina felt it was a horrible waste of money.

Marina left for the evening and Mateo, the waiter, took over. Since no one would be there in the morning, he completed our check out. We asked if we were the only ones here and he laughed and said, “Yes.” He had lots of questions about America and our economy. He also shared his thoughts on the Italian government and their own economy since going onto the euro. He dreamed of going to Miami Beach, Florida.

Back upstairs, we were completely alone in the hotel. Empty hallways, creeky floors, covered furniture…I was waiting for the “tricycle twins” to come down the hallway towards our door. Sweet dreams!