Saint-Jacques-des-Allemands

The village, where the SR45 regional highway ends, about four kilometres past Champoluc, is identified by its name as anancient settlement of German-speaking Walser, who migrated in the Middle Ages from neighbouring highlands which, centuries later, became part of the Helvetic Confederation.

You can linger over a visit to the little church of San Giacomo (Saint-Jacques) or recognise the uses of soapstone – sometimes simple scraps from the lathe – used as a building material, paving stones, chimney supports, flowerbed borders or wall decorations. A Soapstone Festival is held here every August, with workshops and guided tours of the excavations. It's more likely, however, with the right shoes, that you'll seek information on the best places to go walking.

At Saint-Jacques, the valley forks. The branch on the right, if you're coming from Champoluc, leads towards the glacial basin of Verra, where the Evançon torrent forms and flows down the entire Ayas Valley: glacier crossings can be booked with local mountain guides. To the left, instead, theRû Courtaud valley climbs towards an area of high altitude lakes. This is on the southern slope of the Monte Rosa massif, with Breuil-Cervinia, in the Aosta Valley, to the west and Swiss Zermatt to the north;