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Previous
Next
We returned by train to Riddes, and crossed the river valley, past the thermal baths,
to the medieval village of Saillon, where in days gone by pilgrims found shelter, where we stopped
for our breakfast coffee.
We left on the Rue St. Jacques, although we missed the world's smallest vineyard, owned by the Dalai Lama!
We continued through vineyards on the hills, where we discovered that the water is not drinkable
due to the high concentration of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other -cides, highly topical as
the people of Switzerland were voting to ban them at the time!
We then discovered the unique Follaterre nature reserve, where we came across some fascinating cacti in flower.
We stopped at the parish church in Fully, where we got our only pilgrim stamp of the day at the church office,
and were regaled by a kind lady with water and fruit.
After following a straight canal for some time to the sharp bend in the Rhone, we decided to take
a bus through the industrial estates to the hotel we were staying in in Martigny, just before the rain set in.
The Roman Emperor Claudius had the Forum Claudii Vallensium built here in 16 squares.
The Romans needed this city as a strategic bastion at the foot of the Great St. Bernhard.
However, we left museums and sightseeing for another time, taking only a short evening stroll around the town.