Two days ago : Orta and Sizzano

To Lago d'Orta and the beautiful borgo vecchio of Orta San Giulio, with its frescoed meeting-house. Amid its stone roofs and medieval alleyways we felt very much at home.

And the pretty boats tied up on the hard were perfect for tourist shots.

The inevitable pizza was consumed at Ristorante Venus (get there before midday), with a view of the beautiful island of San Giulio and its 6th-century basilica.

We didn't take the boat across - more pressing matters to attend to, including, for the six children in our charge, gelato at Arte del Gelato, on via Olina (homemade, so they say, delicious whatever).

The important business of the day was, though, cheese- and wine-shopping in the slightly-more-distant Valsesia region. Cheese from the Caseificio Franco Paltrinieri in Prato Sesia : unprepossessing premises right next to the dairy, but magnificent gorgonzola and a toma di Valsesia that will make your mouth water (choose between pasteurised and unpasteurised, old and young).

At Lorenzo Zanetta in Sizzano, we acquired a quantity of their Rosso Colline Novarese, a satisfying bonarda-nebbiolo mix. €1.50 for a litre. No 5-litre containers allowed. We staggered away (and later up the hill) with 95 litres - a stock of table wine to last about 7 months and some for a friend.

We also came home with one cold, one migraine and a case of mild heat exhaustion.