This day was the conclusion of our time in the French Swiss Alps. We had to leave our chalet by 9 am and decided to make the most of the day by visiting all the places we had missed out on so far: The pass at the Grand St. Bernard (with its St. Bernard dog kennels), the Roman town of Martigny (mostly the art & automobile museums), and then we’d make our way leisurely to our next destination (Krattigen, on Lake Thun).
The Hospiz (a traditional church institution that is part monastery, part B&B for travelers and pilgrims: offering a free place to sleep & two free meals) is located at the exact point where the Pass is located (i.e. the lowest point in the range where one can cross) and it has a millennium old tradition of providing food and shelter for those traveling this road. Founded by St. Bernard in the 11th century, it also became a repository for tokens the travelers left (mostly devotional items, some expressly made for the hospice’s church).
A few hundred years later, the hospice also became home to dogs who helped in the work of the monks, and eventually became known for their work in rescue operations: the St. Bernard dogs.
After having visited Barryland the day before and having seen the St. Bernards there, but not interacted with them, Leo really needed to have a moment with a dog (he’s probably also the one who misses Luigi the most), and so we stayed for the “meet & greet” or rather “meet & pet.”
We also still had our hiking boots handy, and the area around the pass makes for a wonderful stroll.
We would have liked to stay longer, but with our stomachs growling and a ways to go to Thun, we opted for a lunch stop & more sightseeing in Martigny. The previous day, the boys had discovered signs for an automobile museum and I had seen a menu for lunch, so that was it …
Turns out, the first floor of the car museum is really a Roman history/archeology museum, while the ground floor is for contemporary art, and the garden behind the museum is for modern/contemporary sculpture… The next shock came when it dawned on Leo that it wasn’t a “car” museum of cars that he liked, but a “history of cars” museum. In the end, the boys were impressed nevertheless, and our trip was a big success.
Well, this wouldn’t be a grand tour without another stop — Interlaken. It wasn’t really supposed to be our last stop, but we had a snafu with the Airbnb’s wifi and needed to find free internet, thus our trip to the next closest town. The stop couldn’t have been more fortuitous – not only did we find free wifi (and could connect with our host & get all our info downloaded), but we also found a fabulous town, great outdoor adventures, fancy hotels, delicious Indian food, and new Swiss Swatch watches for us all 🙂
BaresNation 
Great blog!
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