It was winter 1782. One evening, while the snow was falling, a strong mountain dweller from Champoluc, Matteo Brunod, known as “lo rey” (the king) for his Herculean strength, was heading towards Saint-Jacques: he was having a hard time walking due to the thick layer of snow when, all of a sudden, a huge bear appeared in front of him. The bear threw itself against Matteo and, with its big front paws against his shoulders, opened its jaws to devour him. The mountain dweller, however, did not lose his cool: he threw his head back to avoid the beast’s bite then, with his hands, he took hold of the bear’s neck and squeezed with all his might until it fell to the ground. “Lo rey’s” quickness was the subject of many conversations and the entire town population went to see the monster that had put Brunod’s strength to test. He hung the bear’s two paws on the front door of his rascard as a trophy. Today one of those paws can still be seen hanging under the balcony of the “Maison Fournier” in Antagnod. The maison is the head office of the shop “L’Artisanà” (Valdostan Institute of Typical Handicrafts).