ToddBlog: October 2012

Ahhhhh- Martigny, Switzerland in the fall with St. Bernard's........ Has a nice ring to it.

We set up a dog walking tour on Oct. 13th in the little town of Martigny- about 90 min by train from Geneve & up in the mountains. The town itself isnt so exciting- although they do have a great museum there that has a Van Gogh, Picasso & Kandinsky exhibit going on until Nov 25th. Fondation Pierre Giandda We didnt get to it as we were kind of done......

Sarah & Lucia came with us, Jaime was home not feeling well. What a great way to be introduced to these great dogs!!!! Fondation Barry Du Grand St Bernard is the organization that we visited- a fabulous museum that is all about the St. Bernard- the history of the breed, the history in this region & their history as life saving dogs for stranded people caught in the snow. It was 48 francs per person to take their dogs out for a walk- but it goes to a good cause to preserve this beautiful breed. I cant imagine what it costs to feed these big dogs!!!! Also- the little barrel they are known for- yeah- a myth- they never carried barrels around their necks- the did however pull sleds & carry back packs that were more like baskets in the old days. ANYWAY- we got our dog- a 3 year old bitch named Ranna- she was the Alpha female for sure as she just had to be in front- we would lag back & then she'd pull to get up front. She's a beautiful long haired girl that was born in Martigny. The walk we went on was the easy one as we had Lucia who just turned a big 5 last week & we didnt want to tire her out...... Ok ok- we werent sure what the difficult walk was all about, so we opted for the easy walk. Turns out the easy walk was a stroll through the woodlands behind the museum- it was easy & totally do- able- although I would like to try the other one though as its only an hour & they take you higher up in the mountains & its a bit more physical- but im sure we could do it. They offer winter walks in Jan & Feb so this could be fun as well as they are in the snow with the dogs pulling little sleds. Anyway- HIGHLY recommended if you are in the area & hopefully I can make a holiday photo out of one of the shots..... Should have taken a few more I think....