This is one of the oldest passes in the Alps and was a very important route to the Northern provinces in Roman times. There is a lot of history here: In the year 1049, a monk by the name of St. Bernard of Aosta came up here and founded a monastery and hospice, offering simple accomodation and meals to travelers crossing this dangerous pass road. It was also here that the breed of St. Bernard dogs was developed, to traverse deep snow and scent out lost people. The dogs no longer belong to the monastery, but spend the summer up here. You can pay to go for 90-minute hikes accompanied by the dogs. And of course, Napoleon made his legendary crossing of the pass in the year 1800, apparently NOT on the steed that is depicted on all the paintings (See at bottom of report)
We were lucky to reach the Hospice at 10 a.m. under blue cloudless skies, but that lasted just long enough for a few photos and then, as expected, cloud cover and it got cold again! It was right about when we were drinking cheap cappucinos at the Hotel Italia on the Italian side of the pass, waiting for the 11:20 bus to Aosta, that I noticed I didn't have my ID. We debated risking it... would the Italians put me into holding like the Americans do when you cross from Canada without ID? We wanted to get a day visa at the Swiss border control, but it was closed. Luckily I didn't have to find out. We asked the waiter where the bus stop was, and he said "Right here, the bus left at 10:30".
Does this say 11:20, or what? We waited 10 more minutes to be sure, but no bus far and wide. Apparently, the Italians do whatever they want.
So change of plans (I was kind of glad). We had a look through the monastery building and the treasury with all its gold chalices and finely embroidered cloths and hand copied books, watched the St. Bernard dogs going on their walks, purchased Absinthe chocolate in the tourist shop, and headed back with the bus to the North entrance of the tunnel to hike along the dammed lake called Lac des Toules from Bourg St. Bernard to Bourg St. Pierre (which turned out to be an 8-km, 2-hour walk just the same). At the most exposed section the sun came out (very hot, even up here -- changing from pants to shorts and back again all day) and as we got to Bourg St. Pierre, it started to rain.....
 |
| Heading South from Martigny with the St.Bernard Express Train to Orsières. (This view is to the North, to the Rhone Valley) |
 |
| From Martigny you take the St.Bernard Express train to Orsières, and in Orsières we switched to the St. Bernard Bus. |
 |
| In Orsières we had 15 minutes to spare, so we went looking for a bakery for some pastries for a late breakfast. Very French influence here. |
 |
| On the way to the Great St. Bernard Pass by bus, we passed by the lake called Lac des Toules, where at this point we did not know that we were later going to walk that trail on the other side.... |
 |
| The beautiful high alpine landscape near the Great St. Bernard Pass |
 |
| This is the part of Switzerland where we spent 4 days, including this trip to the Great St. Bernard Pass at the border near Italy, and also near the border to France. |
 |
| Tourist Photo |
 |
| The St.Bernard breed was developed by the monks up here in the 17th century, but since 2005, the newly founded group called the Barry Foundation in Martigny has taken over breeding these original, shorthaired dogs. They spend their summers up here, though, for tourists to enjoy. |
 |
| Before catching the bus down there on the Italian side of the pass, we have enough time to climb the hill for a few photos with the (not for long) clear blue skies. |
 |
| We also walked around the Great St.Bernard Lake, twice. This photo is taken from the Swiss side, and across is the Italian side. |
 |
| On the Italian side is this famous monument. In the Internet you can find it listed as the Statue of St. Bernard, but on the inscription plate it reads "Pius XI Pont Max Anno MDCCCCXXIII" |
 |
| Looking South down the Italian side of the pass, this is the closest we got to getting to Aosta on this day... |
 |
| The Hotel Albergo Italia, where we had lovely cappucinos, and where the bus for Aosta left almost an hour earlier than scheduled. |
 |
| View from the Italian side: The Swiss Border Crossing office (closed) and the St. Bernard Hospice and Monastery on the Swiss side. |
 |
| Barely 90 minutes after getting here, the clouds have moved over the entire sky and it got cold. |
 |
| We had some time to kill before the next bus back on the Swiss side, so we visited the St. Bernard monastery church and treasury. (All the items in the treasury are donated) |
 |
| It gets cold quickly in the mountains. |
 |
| We took the next bus at 12:30 back toward the North and did a 2-hour hike along Lac de Toules before catching the last bus out of the valley at 16:30 from Bourg St.Pierre |
 |
| It was a lovely walk along Lac des Toules to Bourg St-Pierre, so not a totally wasted day after all. |
 |
| Here on the uphill section the sun came out and it became extremely hot again |
 |
| We found a breezy spot to eat our Absinthe chocolate which we bought at the St. Bernard Shop |
 |
| Looking South along Lac des Toules. |
 |
| Heading down the valley toward Bourg-St.Pierre, this is looking South back to the dam. |
 |
| Bourg St. Pierre. As we got here it started to rain. We had a little over an hour to kill, so sat in a road-side café and had beer and dessert.... |
This is the famous painting of Napoleon crossing the alps, which apparently was here at the Great St. Bernard Pass (he also rested at the hospice) but apparently also was on a donkey or mule, and not on this great steed...
No comments:
Post a Comment