We left our mountain lair earlier than we had planned because Dimitri had severe hip, groin and knee pain. It had been diagnosed at the local sports hospital as a bone-on-bone hip joint problem. The solution would be a hip replacement. As a lucky and fabulous co-incidence, last year our friend Kent had the same doctor that we are using do his hip replacement. Kent was walking out of the hospital and up the stairs to his apartment the same day. Kent is 60 and Dimitri is 84 so there will be some difference. "Our replacement doctor" in Vail (the same doctor that did Dimitri's knee replacement in March 2023) recommended the doctor in Lyon to Kent. Kent's surgeon in Lyon agreed to do Dimitri's hip replacement on April 8, 2026.
Our roadtrip to Lyon was leisurely and lovely. We stopped four places along the way. There were flowering fruit trees as soon as we got down from the Italian mountains and near Bolzano. Our first stop was Lago di Garda, one of the Italian lakes that we had not ever visited before. The lakeside road was a narrow and winding one, like the Lago Como one. But eventually it widened and had great views of the snow-covered mountains across the lake.
We really liked our first hotel: Hotel Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda (Via Angelo Feltrinelli, 136,25084 Gargnano BS, 39 0365 241800). It was a 5-star hotel and it acted like one. We were given a complimentary upgrade by Liza and Daniel at reception because we asked for it and because we were “Preferred” guests. We paid 405€ for the room booked and the upgrade was to the Exclusive suite. It was great; with a terrific view of the snow covered mountains across the lake (and with a Saharan dust haze). The large rectangular space was divided into sections. Outside there was a lawn area with chaise lounges and then we also had two patios. Inside by the window with a very good view was Jacuzzi that we used and liked. In the bathroom there were two sinks that we liked and a shower that was too small and leaked. The hot water took a long, long time but did get hot enough eventually. There was a separate toilette room that also had a sink.
In the bedroom area there were also two
comfortable chairs and a long wooden desk, big enough for both of us to sit at
our laptops. Then there was a living room area across from the TV and the
minibar area. In the entry area of the suite was a large closet that worked
very well for us. The décor was good, the furniture was comfortable and the
lighting was good. You would not believe how many hotels get these things
wrong.
Twice daily housekeeping was good and
the breakfast was very good. An extensive buffet was accompanied by a menu with
eggs Benedict, for example. Audre really like the thick, unctuous, hot
chocolate.
We used the well equipped gym and
thought about going to the 5 pm breathing class.
Our overall view of the hotel was good.
The things we did not like were the awful beat of the “chill lounge” music in
the hallways and the bar. Another bad thing was hearing (and feeling) the
reverberating footsteps from the room above us. Also we hated the
heating/cooling system. We had to ask reception to change the temperature and
we could not get it comfortable; it was too hot even when the set point was 19°.
After two nights at Lefay, off we went to our next hotel, a 4-star one. Along the A4 highway we could see the snow-covered alps of Austria and that tickled Audre. Are we really in Europe? Yes!
As we approached Sillavengo and Hotel Resort Al Castello-Hibou Bistrot ( Via S. Giuseppe, 15, 28064 Sillavengo NO) we could see peak of Monte Rosa. It was stunning and snow-covered of course.
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