Discovering Piedmont and Savoy 2015

Even we feel surprised at the richness of our trip this year to Savoy and Piedmont this year.

I am married to Paolo, a native of Piedmont, which adds a dimension of deep knowledge of a country, its past and its customs. Inspite of this, I've been trying to understand how in two weeks on a limited budget, we saw and learnt so much, met so many people and understood so much about regional food and wines. My conclusion is:

• forward planning and research is so efficient using the internet 
• using AirBnB e.g. staying in flats in people's homes transforms Continental travel, adding a deeper, richer aspect - that of real relationships. 
• using AirBnB opens up the possibility of readjusting plans, along the way. 

Our hosts kindly gave us access to their wifi connection so we were not only able to plan ahead and modify our itinerary, and do research, but it gave us access late deals, booking flats one day in advance. 

The final key is the satellite navigator. Without a 'sat nav', we would never have found AirBnB hosts who lived in small French villages, too small to be on maps. It opened up lovely rural France, which can be an intimidatingly empty, if beautiful huge space, in August. Our whole story, with photos, is told here. At the end is guidance on Piedmontese wines and desserts.