Our Blog - Vernante, Italy

We stopped at the town of Vernante, which is near the French/Italy border and the plan was to stay overnight and then take the road straight from there to Nice. However .... we hit a little snag. As we checked in, they asked if we were planning to head back to Toulouse and if so, were we going through Nice. We said yes, and they asked if we realized that the road was closed. Hmmm.... I had seen a road closure sign in Cuneo (9 miles north) but I assumed it was a temporary thing. Nope, the road was damaged/washed away during a huge storm last year and has been closed since then. He mentioned that Google Maps has never gotten the update, so I guess he gets lots of people planning to go on that road.

Vernante was part of the Roman empire and there was a Roman road called the Via Imperia that went through the town. I think this "Via Imperia" was the road that was washed out. In addition to just being in the middle of a nice valley, it is also known for the murals of Pinocchio that are dotted around town. They are a tribute to Attilio Mussino, who was the illustrator of "The Adventures of Pinocchio", who lived his final years in the nearby town of Cuneo. Two local painters decided to paint numerous murals narrating the adventures of Pinocchio on the façades of the historic center. There was also a very nice church (I think San Nicolao) but it was closed. We didn't do much in town .... just a walk with Lucy, dinner, and then we left the next morning.