Pope Benedict XVI begins a brief holiday in Valle D’Aosta

(12 July 2006): Pope Benedict XVI left Rome on Tuesday to Valle D’Aosta region of north-western Italy for a 17-day vacation at the residence of Les Combes. As he did last year, the Pope will stay in a chalet belonging to the Salesian Order, the same as that in which late Pope John Paul II also used to spend his holidays. The building, made of wood and stone, has two floors and is surrounded by a large garden. It stands at an altitude of 1,200 meters and has views over Mont Blanc and other mountains on the French-Italian frontier as well as over the Italian-Swiss Alps. The only two public ceremonies the Pope is due to attend during his vacation are scheduled for July 16 and 23, when he will pray the Angelus from the house in which he is staying till 28 July. Following his vacation in Valle d'Aosta, the Pope will move to his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, 30 kilometers south of Rome, where he will remain until the end of September. The Pope's next apostolic trip, the fourth since the start of his pontificate, will take him to Germany from 9 to 14 September.