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From Bourg-d'Oisans, head towards Briançon. After crossing the Chambon dam, turn left towards Mizoën and then Besse-en-Oisans. At the entrance to the village, park in one of the car parks on the left and then on the right.
(S/E) Leave the car park and enter the village of Besse via the main street.
(1) At the Tourist Office (on the right), take the alley on the left, which leads back a little way. Follow the sign for "Oratoire Saint-Sébastien". Follow the alley, which becomes a path at the last houses, to the chapel.
(2) At the Notre-Dame des Sept Douleurs Chapel, take the path that climbs to the right (signposted).
This path crosses the road or track leading up to the sheepfolds several times, but it is clearly visible and well marked at each junction (black arrow on a yellow background on a small post).
(3) A good 50 metres after the Cuchet spring (spring on the right of the path and oratory on the left), the path, which until then had been clearly marked in the schist, disappears and only a trace is visible on the right as it descends directly down the slope.
Follow this trace down to the old hamlet of Cuchet, where there are a few ruins, two isolated oratories (Notre-Dame du Cuchet and Saint-Jean-Baptiste) and a third abandoned oratory set into a section of wall.
From there, follow the signpost and head north-northeast up a steep path that crosses and then runs alongside the track.
(4) At the Saint-Sébastien Oratory, enjoy the panoramic view of the Grandes Rousses massif and the Ferrand valley. Return to the signpost, cross the track and join the hairpin bend below via a path that is not very visible. Shortly after this hairpin bend, take the path on the left (signposted).
(5) A black arrow on a yellow background invites you to continue straight ahead on the path that descends. Ignore it and turn sharply right onto the fairly wide path that leads to the hamlet of Bonnefin.
(6) Continue straight ahead towards the hamlet and pass in front of the Oratory of Saint-François-Régis. The path on the left will be taken on the way back.
(7) In the hamlet of Bonnefin, see the chapel and a few well-restored houses. Turn around.
(6) Take the path on the right. A good hundred metres further on, there is a small site documenting the local extraction of slate.
Continue to the stream, which you can cross via a wooden footbridge, and continue straight ahead through the mountain pastures to the next hamlet, Le Sert.
(8) Take the track on the right that crosses it. A few metres after the Oratoire Saint-Jacques (on the right), take the path that descends to the left at the signpost.
In the mountain pastures, pass in front of the Saint-Roch Oratory and continue to the Gay campsite (Saint-Jérôme Oratory). When you reach the Emparis plateau road, take it on the right towards the village of Besse.
(9) At the Croix de Saint-Marc, take the path that climbs up to the mountain pastures on the right and follow it to the Route du Sert.
At the crossroads with this road, follow the road downhill to the left. Pass the Croix de Saint-Eutrope and then the Croix de Saint-Nicolas and you will see the village of Besse.
(10) There are many routes you can take to cross the village of Besse and return to the car park where you started. Take the small tarmac road behind the church and then choose a narrow alleyway that winds its way to the left between the traditional houses.
At some point, you will reach the main street, which will take you out of the village and back to the car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Difficult 
Easy 
