jump to navigation

Day 6: Snowstorm, Clot Bourget and Sugo’s finale February 5, 2010

Posted by whiskedoff in Restaurants, Sauze d'Oulx, skiing, travel.
Tags: , , , ,
add a comment

Our weather-forecasting Irish friend was right! We woke up today to falling snow.

At breakfast the obnoxious American singles group offered numerous explanations for avoiding the pistes but Rich and I headed out to the powder, happy to share the snow with the other brave souls. Are we really so brave? We were just intent on our final lunch at Clot Bourget.

The skiing was amazing – but really tough on the thighs! Visibility was an issue, although fewer people on the mountain meant less danger. We enjoyed some beautiful runs on Granpista, and then took the drag lift to piste #3000. By the time we reached the top, we could have been on the moon. Not a soul in sight and mounds of fresh powder like froth on a delicious cappuccino!  Who needs off-piste when even the piste-markers are enveloped in snow?!

Soon, it was time for lunch. The manager at Clot Bourget greeted us warmly. The place was empty except for a British trio and four Italian ski club kids sipping Cokes. We ordered water, 2 pizzas and a salad. The tomato and rucola pizza was phenomenal: crisp crust, full-flavored tomatoes and the slight bitterness of the greens. Yum!  With the salad and enormous margherita pizza we’d more than compensated for our energetic morning. One capuccino later and we were back on (and in!) the white.

My plan had been to work off lunch by carving down the mountain. After a few hard turns though, my thighs were burning. The snow was falling at 3 cm per hour and nobody was even dreaming of grooming the trails. My skis were deep in the snow. After a long run from the top I called it a day and waited for Rich to take his final farewell run. At 3:30 pm we headed down the hill together exhausted and exhilarated.

We returned our gear to the ski shop, chatted with our Irish friend, and walked around the newer part of town until the grocery store opened at 4pm. To pass the time we joined the happy hour revelers at the pub next door. One pint apiece was enough to banish our thoughts of picking up a bottle of wine to have in the room. We staggered back and got out the Scrabble…

Unbelievable! Yet another Deb win. An immediate rematch stemmed the tide; Rich eked out a narrow victory and left for dinner.

This time Sugo seated us downstairs. The place was packed and looking around the room we recognized diners we’d seen there on other nights. It seemed that everyone in Sauze d’Oulx wanted to end their holiday with a plate of Sugo’s pasta.

Papardelle with special wild boar sauce sat on every table but ours. We tucked into homemade spaghetti with mascarpone and tomatoes. Earlier we had decided to forgo wine – sensing end-of-vacation colds coming on – but we ended up sipping a civilized 1/4 litre carafe. And, of course, another portion of the best tiramisu Rich has ever eaten.

We walked back to the Grand Besson grinning from ear to ear. It was still snowing lightly; a lovely way to end a wonderful ski trip, and our first anniversary.

Day 3: Sestriere February 2, 2010

Posted by whiskedoff in Restaurants, skiing, travel.
Tags: , , , , ,
add a comment

Breakfast at the Hotel Grand Besson is a real treat.

If there weren’t serious skiing to be done, I would linger for hours. The spread includes delicious strong coffee with hot milk, fresh fruit juices, breads, yogurts, granola, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, fruit, croissants, cake and two massive platters of prosciutto garnished with cheese.

Fortunately, the head waiter was kind enough to bring us a separate plate of cheese that hadn’t been mingling with the trayf!

We took a few lifts and the cable car over to Sestriere. It was colder there but the resort has more challenging runs. We skied hard for a few hours and took a short break to assess the hot chocolate scene at the base of one of the runs.

Lunch today wasn’t great. The food itself was fine – we had plates of pasta at a lodge near the bunny slope – but the toilets, bad news. A long winding set of cement stairs led to a narrow corridor with two doors. Each one contained a squat toilet. Definitely takes some getting used to, and I’d rather not.

For dinner we tried La Griglia, a pizzeria off the beaten track in the old part of town. The restaurant itself was down a few steps into a stone cave. The music was terrible but the portions huge and the service very friendly.

We each ordered pizzas and shared a bottle of the house red. To our surprise, it was fizzy. The waiter explained it was a popular local wine. Regardless, we ordered a bottle of Montepulciano and enjoyed our meal immensely.  We weren’t alone.  On a nearby table, two locals ordered three huge pizzas between them and washed them down with liter mugs of beer!