Lakes Laramon and Serpent via the Chemin de Ronde, starting from Névache

Head to the village of Névache.
Park in the large car park at the entrance to the village, near the Tourist Office.

(S/E) Enter the village via the street between the war memorial and the Tourist Office, go round the church and its cemetery on the right, and join the road at the village exit. Cross the Torrent du Vallon, passing the Saint-Benoît Chapel and the entrance to the path leading to the Col du Vallon. You’ll reach a crossroads on the path just before the^first hairpin bend.

(1) Turn right onto this path to cut across the bends. You will then rejoin the road, passing the Notre-Dame de Bon Secours Chapel – near which stands a large wooden cross – and then the Sainte-Barbe Chapel. Continue on until you reach another path junction.

(2) Take this path on the right; it is the^GRP® Tour du Mont Thabor, marked in red and yellow. Here, tackle a steady climb to reach the Chalets de Biaune. Then turn left, still following the G^RP®. Enjoy this balcony path, which is sometimes level and sometimes slightly uphill: this is the Chemin de Ronde.
Follow it – you can’t go wrong – until you pass two small lakes in quick succession on your right.

(3) Turn right onto a path that leads directly to Lac Laramon.

(4) After crossing the lake’s outlet, join the path that climbs along its right bank.
Then continue along the path uphill to reach Lac Serpent. As you pass a group of ruins of small dry-stone buildings – no doubt former sheepfolds – it is best to take the left-hand branch of the path, which offers a more distant view of Lac Serpent.

(5) Head back down the same route to return to the Lac Laramon junction.

(4) Turn right onto the wide, well-restored track to reach the junction of the Chemin de Ronde and the GRP^®.

(6) Cut across this path to continue the descent along the winding track and reach the hamlet of Ricou.

(7) Continue along the track suitable for vehicles, passing through a few small clusters of chalets – Pied de Ricou and La Chalanchette – before reaching the hamlet of Fontcouverte.

(8) Here, take the track, known as the Route de la Haute Vallée de la Clarée. Stay on this track until you reach the GRP® junction^.

(2) Follow the same route as on the way out to return to the tourist office car park (S/E).

Although there are no major difficulties, this walk does not require any special skills, but you mustn’t be put off by the occasional climb. Good mid-mountain walking boots and a pair of walking poles are therefore recommended.
There are no shelters or water sources along this route, apart from the lakes where you can cool off.

By personal choice, we made our return journey from Fontcouverte to Névache by road, in order to see the chapels dotted here and there along the route, and to get a closer look at the glacially eroded rocks at Basse Sausse and Notre-Dame de Bon Secours.

A more straightforward option would have been to follow, from Fontcouverte (and all the way to Névache without interruption), the excellent and very scenic path along the right bank of the Clarée which, as well as offering lovely views of the river, takes you past some beautiful waterfalls – including those at Fontcouverte and Débaret – and a large number of picturesque bridges: the Jadis, the Souchère, the Rately, etc.
To get an idea of the route for this option, see the walk: ‘The Clarée, right bank: from Névache to the Laval car park’, which describes this route in the uphill direction. I therefore recommend this option to those who, above all, dislike walking on tarmac.