Where's George?

Everybody in Como has a story about George Clooney.

Even the local brochures list the fact that the Hollywood star lives in Laglio on Lake Como, although others say he actually resides in the nearby town of Carate Urio. Perhaps his villa is in between the two.

And a Nespresso ad with Clooney jumping into a cab driven by God - played by John Malkovich - always seems to be on TV.

Once spotted all over the place, he's become a bit more illusive in the past few months - not surprising considering the slew of YouTube videos depicting people aimlessly searching for him.

The local tourist office told us that he likes to go for lunch at Harry's Bar. Not that we knew where Harry's Bar was, or had the slightest interest in finding it.

We spent a wet weekend in this most beautiful of areas, an hour or so by train north of Milan and close to the Swiss border.

Como is a place where the rich Milanese have holidayed for centuries - escaping the heat of the city to boat, swim and drink coffee in the sun.

May is meant to be the best month but even in winter rain it's still gorgeous.

The first thing tourists do when they land here is take a boat trip around the lake - before heading up the hill on the steep funicular to take in the magnificent view.

The boat trip takes about an hour and is refreshingly free of commentary. You can just sit and stare at the massive and beautiful villas that dot the landscape.

We did just that and jumped off at a random stop along the way, Cernobbio, knowing we could get back on the boat around an hour later.

And what was the first thing we saw but Harry's Bar.

Running through the rain (we'd declined offers by a sea of barters to buy an umbrella in town) we pushed the door open and entered a little world of its own.

Harry's Bar is an elegant restaurant with windows looking out on the lake and a good old fashioned bar - just the sort of place George would love.

That area was closed for a party of adults with precocious children, who annoyed the waiters no end. (I was so glad to see that precocious children don't just live in Australia these days.)

Our beautifully presented waitress languidly handed us a menu and suggested an aperitif as we peered around. Of course we pretended to have never heard of the actor.

I ordered a glass of champagne, which was the perfect start to one of the most pleasant Sunday lunches I've ever had. It included thin pieces of rare roast beef with sublime mashed potatoes - not what you would expect to eat in Italy.

The service was laid back but efficient. It was on the pricey side but it was worth it - the bill came to around 64 Euros ($A86.60) for two people.

Giordano, the bar manager (who previously worked in Perth), chatted to us before offering a free glass of dessert wine to perfectly end the meal.

He told us the restaurant was owned by "people in Venice" but it was not a franchise and no relation to the franchise chain, Harry's Bar, including the less than salubrious one at the airport.

He said not only Clooney but Robert de Niro ate and drank there regularly.

"George Clooney is nicer," he said. "He smiles and jokes a lot."

He always came with his Sardinian model girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis.

"But he hasn't come for six months," he said. "Because of the paparazzi."

(I'd also read in a local magazine Hugh Grant saying he remembered having dinner at a "retro" restaurant in Como but I'm not sure if was talking about Harry's Bar.)

We were lucky. The restaurant was about to close for Winter. We got there at 2pm and the closed sign was put on the door at 3pm, disappointing a group of people who knocked on it.

Usually guests of the luxurious hotel, Villa D'Este, around the corner are directed here by the concierge but the resort closes in November so we were also free of rich Americans.

Feeling satisfied by our delicious lunch and slightly tipsy, we jumped back on the boat which was heading in the other direction but looped back to Como in the rain.

A line from the Guns N'Roses rock anthem, "Nothin' lasts forever even cold November rain", filled my head on the way back.

We never did spot George but we felt as if he was there in spirit. We knew he would have loved to have met us, anyway.