We left Alessandria after our continental breakfast in the hotel and headed toward Aosta using the autostrade. The region of Valle d'Aosta was once under the control of the French, and in this (NW) corner of Italy we saw many signs in French. The valley has many small towns, most with castles.

Our intent was to cross into Switzerland using the San Bernard Pass, perhaps catching a view of the namesake canines. We left Aosta following the signs for Col du Pt. St. Bernard. As we drove, we also saw that we were on the route for the Mont Blanc tunnel, which was closed however because of a tanker truck accident a few weeks before. Something about the route didn't seem right, so we stopped and took a closer look at the map. Aha! Seems as though there is a Col du Pt. St. Bernard and a Col du Gd. St. Bernard. Pt. is the abbreviation for "Petite" and Gd. for "Grande." Guess which one we were supposed to be going to?

After a 20 KM backtrack, we were on the route to Col du Gd. St. Bernard. Beautiful scenery. As one climbs the hill, you see signs for a tunnel that goes through the mountain. During the winter, that's the only open route. But this was the middle of summer and we don't want to go through no stinkin' tunnel and miss the dogs.

So, climb we did. Meredith wasn't saying much but I could hear her gnashing her teeth. The road was wide enough for the Audi, and to meet another car that size coming the other way, but that's about it. Unlike US and Canadian roads, there weren't any guard rails in most places – just some rocks set at the edge of the road. The road wasn't too bad, however and we reached the summit in due course. You can see in our pictures how the road snaked up the mountainside. You can also see the sign that is at the TOP of the mountain (but not at the bottom). Loosely translated it says: "No guardrails, drive with caution."

You might also notice some white stuff in our pictures. Some of that white stuff is gray rock, but some of it is snow. Yesterday we were looking at gals in bikinis – today we're walking on snow.

The summit of the pass is the border between Italy and Switzerland. The Swis have been neutral for a long time, and they continue to work hard at staying that way. At the border, we had to present our passports and state our business. Although not much more trouble than driving into Canada (and much faster than our bloated Blaine/White Rock crossing), it was the first time since landing in Munich that our transit had been interrupted for customs.

Later today, and almost every day we were in Switzerland, we would see Swiss Army troops in training maneuvers. Neutral doesn't mean wimpy. I've heard that all the passes, tunnels, and bridges into the country have dynamite in place so they may be closed quickly.

The St. Bernard Monastery is on the Swiss side of the border. We stopped and visited the museum and kennels. If you'd like to know more about the area and the breed, visit this site about the St. Bernard Dog. It is maintained by the museum of Bern. The link to follow is History of the Saint Bernard Dog.

Leaving the summit, we traveled through the St. Bernard Region of Valais, one of the Cantons of Switzerland. We found a bank machine that dispensed Swiss Francs. This is the most colorful, and modernistic, of the currencies of Europe (we haven't seen the Euro). Swiss Francs were about on a par with Canadian dollars, so our currency thinking became a bit easier. We drove on, into the Canton of Vaud, and took a winding road up to our next condo, in Leysin.

As we checked in, about 4 PM Saturday, the hostess told us that the only grocery store closed at 5 PM (even if there were customers in line) and would not open again until Monday. So, we hurried over and got provisions for the next few days. By this time, we were quite pooped and worked real hard at relaxing for the rest of the day.