On a walk with Saint-Bernard dogs in Savoie

Walk to La Rosière station, in the company of a guide and his Saint-Bernard dog.

This beautiful escape begins at sunset. St. Bernard dog breeder, Pascal Guesdon, acts as guide and takes vacationers to walk the path to the Little St. Bernard Pass which leads to Italy. Little by little, the landscape seems to become black and white, another enchanting world emerges before the eyes of young and old walkers.

The Saint Bernard appeared around 2000 BC. JC in Assyria, where it is then used for war and guarding flocks which it defends against lions. It was brought to Mesopotamia, and when the Romans arrived in the valleys of the Alps and the Pre-Alps, mainly via the Grand-Saint-Bernard pass in Helvetia, they brought these hounds which remained since then on the passes, then in the valleys of Aosta and Valais.

These dogs are primarily intended for guarding and defense, because the pass is invaded by bandits. They represent, originally, a race entrusted to the care of peasants and shepherds. Later, they accompany travelers and, thanks to their highly developed sense of smell and their exceptional sense of direction, enable them to find and save pilgrims and all those who get lost in the snow and fog of these mountainous regions.

“Strength, endurance and courage are among the adjectives that best describe them”, explains Pascal Guesdon during this outing.

IN PRACTICE

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