Val Maira (not Maria as I thought for a long time) has for a long time been an unknown little corner of Italy but like many things I think it is about to change.
Along the north west border of Italy lies the Maritime Alps which forms the border with France. In fact depending on what pass you take you will end up at the Mediterranean if you take the Limone pass and Provence if you pass the Colle d' Maddelanea.
What makes Val Maira and Val Grana unique is they are dead end passes unless you are an expert hiker or traveling with a donkey.
The hike begins at an assigned time in the morning in the center of town with a glass of prosecco, a nettle frittata and some bruscetta with anchovy sauce before taking off up the hill. The hike seems to change somewhat each year, and this year it was a bit more demanding in the uphill climb. The second stop was at a church mid way up the hill, we saw several Italian friends at this stop with Arneis and salami before heading further up the hill to Ruta Valle where we had a fantastic stew and zucchini with Nebbiolo before rounding the corner to our town Morenesio for cheese (we are in the middle of cheese country here!) and Barolo and Barbaresco and finally off to the Santuaria d’ Santa Maria for dessert a dessert prosecco, coffee, cookies and grappa! ...Festa, Val Maira, Stroppo, Hike