Day 12: St Martino inferiore in the Valley Maira

 By this stage of the hike on Day 12, we left the recommended path of the English guide and followed advice of German hikers to stay in the Cultural Center of St Martino inferiore in the Valle Maira. 
Maria Schneider, a German and her late husband, have renovated an abandoned village into a retreat.
It attracts mostly Germans.
It is unbelievably beautiful.

 It was unusual to find two other Americans there.  Doug and June, below, are studying slow food at a Piedmont school.