Menton, Monaco and Piemonte

Tuesday evening was the parade for Torino’s saint, St. John the Baptist. There was a parade that went right by my house so we were able to see it from the window. The people were all dressed from different eras and since I’m not an expert on days of yore or yesteryear I can’t tell you exactly which era! There were royals, peasants, bakers, blacksmiths, knights, and court jesters.

San Giovanni parade

Wednesday morning we drove to Monaco and the French Riviera. We stopped and had lunch in Menton which is a small town on the Riviera.

Menton, France

My mom and I in Menton

The hills of Menton

Our server made a great suggestion of the crepe special…ham and cheese crepe followed by a crepe covered in sugar…heavenly! We drove along the coast taking in the beautiful views as we approached Monte Carlo, Monaco. We walked around the city and stopped in the casino. We had to check our cameras (like a coat check) so I don’t have any pictures inside. We played the slots and I lost my entire ten euros…oh well I had an hour of fun!

Monte Carlo Casino

Monte Carlo's Bean

Monte Carlo Casino

We headed back to Torino for the firework display for San Giovanni. A rock hit the windshield and cracked it on the way home but luckily I purchased the extra insurance so it wasn’t a problem! Piazza Vittorio was very crowded as this celebration is typically the biggest of the year. The fireworks were set to music and were an amazing display above the Po River.

Piazza Vittorio packed for the fireworks

San Giovanni Fireworks

Thursday we exchanged the car (I was a little afraid the entire windshield would come down on my lap) and headed to meet our guide outside of Torino for a day of chocolate, cheese and wine. We started off in Cherasco where we tried chocolate covered orange slices, chocolate truffles, chocolate filled with a liquor, chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate with a hazelnut mix and the famous “baci” which means kiss which are made from dark chocolate chopped hazelnuts.

Our chocolates

Our next stop was the Giolito Formaggi in Bra for cheese tasting. Marco showed us how they aged the cheese and how they tested the cheese wheels to see if they had broken (using a small hammer). We then tasted cheese from goat, sheep and cow. We also got to taste the “drunken cow” cheese which is made by pressing the cheese wheel between the grape skins which are separated from the grapes during the wine making process.

Marco shows us the cheese cooler

Testing the cheese

Enjoying our cheese

The third stop was Castle Cavour.

Castle Cavour

View from Castle Cavour

The castle is used for the annual truffle auction. Truffles are a fungi that grow underground. There are two types of truffles…black and white. The white truffles are very rare and can only be found in the Langhe area in south Piemonte and the Istria peninsula in Croatia. Every year after the harvest in October and November, people from all over the world come to the castle to bid on the white truffles which typically sell for between $1,000 and $2,200 per pound! Dogs are trained to find the truffles under the ground and may even attend the truffle hunting school near Alba. Pigs were previously used to find the white truffles but dogs are more common as they are less likely to eat the white truffles after they find them! After the castle we drove to Barolo for the tasting of the famous Barolo wine. Barolo wine is one of the wines made from nebbiolo grapes. We toured the winery and saw the large barrels the wine is fermented in.

Giant wine barrels

Thursday evening my mom and I went out to dinner with some of my friends from the office. We had an amazing dinner of traditional Piemontese food. Thanks to Michele, Massimo, Elena and Veronica for making my mom feel so welcome. The girls let Friday afternoon and I was sad to see them go. It was nice to be able to share Torino with them!