The giants of the Rhône

Sure, the forests of Canada and the Tokyo skyline are definitely worth a trip. But sometimes particularly moving places are much closer. The canton of Valais, for example. Because in this part of Switzerland it is easy to lose your heart to enormous personalities on four paws.

Even if you travel a lot in Switzerland, when you leave the southern end of the Lötschberg tunnel, you can't help but be amazed. Suddenly the surroundings become more southerly, the atmosphere more Latin than it was 20 minutes ago north of the tunnel. But our train journey ends neither in Visp nor on a mountain. We drive a little further along the Rhône to Martigny, take several bus laps through the town (apparently the driver didn't get lost after all) and walk a little further until they are lying lazily in the shade right in front of us: Today we meet the St. Bernards of the Fondation Barry, which is a foundation dedicated to the preservation of these enormous four-legged friends and also trains them for social work.

The highlight of our visit is a walk together with three St. Bernards, a dog keeper and a small group of other curious guests. It doesn't take long before the gentle giants have us completely wrapped around their fingers (or paws?), and in the forest of Martigny we get to know their friendly, relaxed disposition, but also the astonishing strength of a 70 kg dog. "Our" St. Bernard is affectionate and not a bit shy - and we start to think about how big a rucksack would have to be to smuggle this wonderful creature out of Martigny unnoticed. But we probably wouldn't be able to keep up with the dogs' home at the Fondation Barry, so we hand over the lead and dog, but stay a little longer and watch the dog training, visit the museum belonging to the foundation and, above all, the cake display case.

Exhausted from all the playing and walking: a gentle giant from the Valais.

We don't want to leave our French-speaking surroundings just yet, so we get back on the train and make our way to Lake Geneva, because instead of mountains we feel like water - our overnight stop on this short trip is Lausanne. From the hotel balcony, we look across the lake to France and wonder once again why we don't travel to western Switzerland more often.

View from Lausanne: Why aren't we here more often?

The next morning, we stroll through Lausanne, which is surprisingly warm for a May weekend, and get in the mood for the upcoming Olympic Games. Close to the lake is the Olympic Museum, which tells the story of the Games in modern times and also offers the very motivated the chance to get some exercise.

The weekend quickly turns to Monday and the SBB train takes us back to Zurich. On the train, we look at St. Bernard photos again. And think. There would actually be enough room here for such a tiny creature, wouldn't there?

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Good to know

From our home base in Zurich, Martigny can be reached by train via Bern and Visp in just under three hours. Within Martigny there are bus connections to Fondation Barry, so that another quarter of an hour has to be added to the travel time.

A visit to the Fondation Barry is possible spontaneously, but a direct encounter with the dogs usually requires a booking in advance (or well in advance, depending on the size of the group). Mountain fans can also visit the St. Bernards in summer at the top of the Great St. Bernard Pass and hike with them.

If you want to combine the stop in Martigny with a visit to Lake Geneva, you can be there in about an hour. Our accommodation in Lausanne this time was the Lausanne Palace, because of an interesting offer that included entry to the Olympic Museum. We really enjoyed the view of the lake, but generally found the hotel too expensive. However, there are alternatives for every taste around the lake - see also our blog post on Geneva.