La farandole des villages de la vallée d'Aigue Blanche en gravel

Along the way from Aiguilles, the forgotten villages of Prats-Haut and Prats-Bas appear on the slopes, making them the sunniest in the Queyras. They are the forerunners of the other remarkably well-preserved hamlets of Molines-en-Queyras. 1 - Aiguilles Leaving Aiguilles, I follow the banks of the Guil, where tourists used to head for the ski fields. But the heyday of winter sports is over: the Peynin ski lifts were dismantled in 2022 due to the repeated absence of snow and their operating deficits: could this be the dawn of a new era? 2 - Chanteloube forest At the edge of the snow front, I enter the "Chanteloube forest" (1500 m). The track is well marked: progress is rapid and leads me onto the small road leading to Prats Bas and Prats Hauts. During major snowfalls, both villages have suffered from avalanches that have regularly ravaged them. 3 - The villages of Gaudissart and Molines Further on, I see "Gaudissart" (1808 m): an etymology that derives from the word "bois essarté", meaning "wood put to the test". Men used to carve essarts, clearings in the forest where crops could be grown. Around La Gardiole, the forest has disappeared and given way to large mountain pastures: hay has always been a vital source of income for the Queyrassins, who had to feed their livestock confined to the barns for up to seven months. 4 - Molines en Queyras On the way down, I pass through Molines-en-Queyras (1778 m), where the remarkably well-preserved Serre communal oven is enthroned. It completes the village's architectural harmony of fuste and caset (stone wing), as does "La Rua" (1678 m), which has benefited from a bypass of the Col Agnel road. The descent begins quickly: on the left stands a coiffed damsel or fairy chimney. This "Boromé" - literally "mighty man" - as this great natural column was once called, is the result of the erosion of an ancient moraine where the weight of the largest rocks compacted the earth. 5 - Ville-Vieille Descending the road, I come to "Ville-Vieille" (1380 m), which paid a heavy price during the devastating flooding of the Guil in 1957. Part of the village was washed away and houses flooded. In the Queyras, each village has its own story, shaped by the mountain that lives and breathes. At the end of the walk, the return to Aiguilles is a leisurely affair on the main road. The bakery in Molines-en-Queyras and the one at the Château Ville-Vielle traffic circle are both delicious and well worth a break! In season, the canopy of the Chanteloube forest will provide protection from the sun. With its lower altitude, this hike can be completed much later in the low season.