St. Bernard Switzerland / Aosta Italy (5/6)

Today we wanted to see more of the region and had several things on the agenda. First stop was gorges de la diosaz which was a 1.5 hr hike into a beautiful gorge only 10 minutes from Chamonix. Next we took a bit of a regional driving tour into Switzerland and had a nice lunch in Champex high in the mountains on a lake. Next up, St. Bernard Pass. This pass is famous for three reasons: 1) Saint Bernard and his charitable work, 2) the Grand St. Bernard Pass and the many famous people who have used the route and 3) for the dog breed St. Bernard which is said to be the product of an unknown cross between a mastiff, Great Dane and/or Newfoundland in 1708. The pass has a terrific museum that outlines the history of St. Bernard and the treacherous pass and also sports a kennel full of cute, sleeping, floppy St. Bernard dogs (only 1700 CHF if you want to purchase one). They had one dog out ‘on display’ that you could pet – a true gentle (drooling) giant. Read about ‘Barry’ – the famous sire of the breed. Our last stop was in Italy – Aosta. After reading about the Romans coming over the St. Bernard Pass, it’s not hard to imagine that there are several sights in Aosta where the Romans left some remains including an amphitheatre. The town had a lively festival going on (patron Saint Gratis day) while we were there and we also enjoyed a terrific Italian meal before heading back thru the Mont Blanc tunnel (31.50 Euro or about $44.00!!) back to Chamonix. See some then and now Italy photos as well as Switzerland photos.