Vallouise Valley, perhaps the jewel in the crown. The fifth spoke is the wide Guisane Valley to the west. Finally, the sixth section of this book focuses on the mountains to the northeast of the city around Montgenèvre, which are littered with hill forts and overlook the Italian border.
The Torrent de l’Orceyrette just above the lake of the same name (Walk 19)
Valleys of the Briançonnais and Montgenèvre
Clarée Valley
The Clarée Valley is, for many, the highlight of the Briançonnais, and is surely one of the most picturesque places in the Alps. A long, wide valley of stunning grassy pastures, it is bisected by the crystal clear, fast flowing River Clarée and flanked on both sides by wonderful snowy peaks. The villages in the valley are small and undeveloped and you get a clear sense of times gone by.
The opportunities for the walker here are myriad, and a book could be written on this magnificent alpine wilderness alone. Many of the routes in this valley are long but no apology is made: this is epic walking country.
Cerveyrette Valley
This idyllic valley is well known to road cyclists who use it to mount an assault on the famous Col d’Izoard. It is less frequented by walkers, however, which is surprising, given its appeal. The valley’s main village is Cervières, which makes a lovely place to spend the night. There are also a number of charming hamlets, not least les Fonts, which has a refuge.
The valley stretches out to the southeast extremities of the Briançonnais, where it meets the stunning Queyras, another relatively unknown mountain range adjacent to the Italian frontier. If you are looking for peace and quiet then the Cerveyrette is the place. Take your time here and soak up the atmosphere among some very fine alpine scenery.
Ayes Valley
Owing to its relative inaccessibility, this small valley is one of the least frequented places in the Briançonnais. The narrow access roads still have gravel surfaces in places. Although they are normally accessible to all vehicles, the going is slow. Use this as an excuse to take your time – those that make the effort will be rewarded with some of the most beautiful places that the region has to offer.
The walks described here are just a snapshot of those available, but they showcase many of its highlights – crystal clear lakes, historic forts, icy cols and snowy peaks. This valley should not be overlooked.
Durance Valley
The mighty River Durance runs more than 300km, all the way from its source near Montgenèvre to the River Rhône near Avignon. By the time it reaches Briançon it is already a wide and powerful torrent and is a dominant feature of the city and its surrounds. As it gushes south from Briançon through a wide valley with high mountains on both sides, it is nourished with water flowing through a series of unspoilt tributary valleys.
The walks in this section explore a number of these tributary valleys which are located on the fringes of the Écrins National Park. Each one has its own unique delights. There is the stunning Vallouise Valley, with its pretty villages and hamlets, which makes a fantastic base. There is the bucolic Freissinières Valley, with its sparkling high altitude lakes. And there is the little known Fournel Valley, with its staggering wild flower collection, including the famous and rare Chardon Bleu.
And this is only scratching the surface. There are so many valleys in this part of the region that it would take a lifetime to explore them all. Indeed an entire book could easily be devoted to this part of the Durance Valley alone. One thing is certain – if you take the time to walk one of the routes here then you will come back for more.
Guisane Valley
The wide and wonderful Guisane Valley, which runs southeast towards Briançon, has some of the best walking in the region, if not the whole of the Alps. The mountains on the north side of the valley separate the Guisane from the Clarée Valley and therefore any route there will offer amazing views down into the Clarée. Meanwhile, bordering the south side of the Guisane is the spectacular Écrins National Park so the walks in the Guisane normally offer magnificent views of that huge and very special mountain wilderness.
Needless to say, the walking in this part of the Briançonnais is exceptional. Once again, this is only a small selection of the available possibilities but it will be enough to whet your appetite for more.
Montgenèvre
Montgenèvre is a small but busy ski resort in the winter, yet it is relatively quiet in the summer. It sits on the Italian–French frontier and is the staging point for some incredible walking, with views extending west towards Briançon and the Écrins National Park, east into Italy and south over the Cerveyrette Valley and the Queyras.
As a ski resort, there is some ski infrastructure present, but it is small-scale and discrete and quickly recedes as you gain height after leaving the resort, so this should not put you off.
The walking here is varied. There are easy low level walks close to Montgenèvre, and strenuous high altitude outings such as the climb of Mont Chaberton. For those who are interested in hill fortifications, there is plenty to see here.
History
The Briançonnais formed part of the kingdom of the Celtic King Cottius, who accepted the protection of the Roman Emperor Augustus around 13BC. Cottius became the prefect of the region, and reported to Rome. Brigantium was the Roman name for Briançon. During the 5th century, with the weakening of the Roman Empire, the Briançonnais was incorporated into the Kingdom of Burgandy.
The well preserved stone buildings of the hamlet of Bouchier (Walk 27)
In AD534 the Kingdom of Burgandy was conquered by the Franks. With the decline of the Franks, the Briançonnais became part of the huge kingdom of Arles and Vienne which stretched all the way from Basle to the Mediterranean. Around 1023 the Briançonnais came into the hands of the Counts of Albon, who became the Dauphins of Viennois, and in the 12th century it became part of the Dauphiné.
In the 13th and 14th centuries Briançon emerged as a prosperous market town benefitting from its prominent location on an important trading route between regions that are now part of France and Italy. The old town was constructed between 1196 and 1228. In 1343 the last Dauphin, Humbert II, conceded many of his feudal privileges to the Briançonnais, resulting in the formation of the République des Escartons du Briançonnais. The Dauphiné as a whole was sold to the French Crown in 1349.
Fort des Salettes seen from Briançon (Walks 30 and 31)
The threat of a invasion of the Briançonnais by the House of Savoy led to substantial strengthening of Briançon’s fortifications between 1692 and 1740. The architect of the work was the military engineer Marquis de Vauban (1633–1707), who shaped so many towns in France in the second half of the 17th century. He may not have overseen the construction of all of the fortifications (many of which were completed by later generations), but the idea of protecting the city with a ring of forts on the surrounding peaks and ridges was his. Briançon’s Cité Vauban and other forts were part of these works (see Appendix B). Many of the forts are well preserved and a number of them are destinations of walks in this book.
Fort de l’Olive with an autumn cloud inversion in the valley below (Walk 2)
In 1789 all traditional provinces in France were replaced by 83 départements answerable to the central government. This sounded the death knell for the République des Escartons du Briançonnais – the Briançonnais became part of the Département de l’Est Dauphine, which was later to become the Hautes Alpes, as it is known today. The French Revolution (1789–1799) led to occasional riots in the region, but the impact was minor