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(S) From the Refuge de l’Orgère, follow the GR®5 path down to the left of the D106 road (south). Join a track and follow it straight ahead. You’ll come to a junction.
(1) At the signpost, ignore the track straight ahead and the one on the left towards the Chapel of Notre-Dame des Neiges; follow the path on the right (south-west). Ignore two paths on the right leading in the opposite direction: one after 70 m and the other 200 m further on. Cross a few streams and arrive at an X-shaped junction, near Pierre Brune’s chalet.
(2) At the signpost, cross the wide path diagonally and continue along the path straight ahead. Descend a steep slope via a few hairpin bends. At a bend, ignore a path on the left. Further down, you’ll reach a junction.
(3) At the signpost, continue straight on (south). At the junction, beneath a high-voltage power line (alt. 1,420 m), take the bend to the right (west–north-west), ignoring the path on the left. After 250 m, you’ll reach a junction.
(4) At the signpost, leave the ascending branch of the GR®55 to your right (north-west) and continue straight ahead on the GR®5 and GR®55 towards Modane. After 60 m, at the Fork in the road beneath the high-voltage power line, keep to the left. After a double bend, you’ll come out onto a track.
(5) At the signpost, ignore the left-hand branch and head down the opposite way (south). Immediately, pass a path on your right. Pass under a high-voltage power line and, further down (alt. 1185 m), leave the path on your right, heading towards a climbing site. At the fork in the road (alt. 1170 m), keep to the right. After a right-left bend, cross the footbridge over a stream and, immediately, you’ll reach a track.
(6) At the signpost, head down Rue de la Charmette to the left (south-east), passing through a housing estate. At the fork, keep left (east), staying on the same street. At the Chapelle Saint-Jacques junction, turn left onto Rue de Chavière, then ignore Rue des Grands Pré on the right. You’ll come out onto Avenue Émile Charvoz.
(7) Cross the avenue, turn left, then right to cross the bridge over the Arc, and pass under the railway line. At the roundabout, continue straight on along Rue White Cross, and you’ll come out onto Rue Jules Ferry. Opposite, at the walking sign, head towards Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, which is slightly to the right.
(8) On the square, walk past the town hall and turn left onto Rue du Charmaix. In front of the church, turn right onto the same street, continue to the junction with Rue des Bons Enfants, then carry on straight ahead along Rue du Fréjus. At the next junction, under a high-voltage power line, continue straight ahead (east) along a path lined with gardens, until you reach a fork in the road.
(9) At the signpost, turn right onto the GR®5. Cross the railway line, turn right, and walk alongside it in the opposite direction (west-south-west), skirting the edge of the woods. Move away from the railway line (south-west) and, at the Fork in the road, take the left-hand path. About 250 m after a right-hand bend, you’ll reach an X-junction.
(10) Ignore the path on the left and, immediately afterwards, the one on the right; instead, head up into the woods on the left. Further up, cross the private road leading to the Fréjus Tunnel (alt. 1185 m). At the Fork in the road opposite, take the ascending path on the left. Cross a stream and reach a fork on the terrace of one of the motorway’s stabilisation embankments.
(11) Leave the level path and climb the embankment on the left. On the right, rejoin a level path for 100 m, then turn left and climb another embankment. Continue straight ahead, skirting the motorway (westbound). Cross it via a tunnel, then, on the other side, continue along a path to a junction.
(12) Ignore the path straight ahead and turn left onto the path heading in the opposite direction; 100 m further on, you’ll reach a junction in front of a wayside shrine. Leave the path straight ahead and take the GR®5 to the right, into the forest. You’ll come to a hairpin bend on the D216 road.
(13) Head up the road to the left. Leave it at the third hairpin bend to follow the path opposite, marked by a GR®5 signpost (alt. 1,415 m). At the wayside cross, ignore the path leading in the opposite direction to the left. Further up, rejoin the D216, then reach a junction at the hairpin bend.
(14) At the signpost, leave the D216 and take the path straight ahead. In picturesque surroundings, cross a stone bridge leading to Notre-Dame du Charmaix. At the junction at the exit of the next bend, on the left (altitude 1518), ignore the path on the right. Stay on the GR®5 straight ahead and rejoin the D216.
(15) Follow it to the right, through the lower part of the Val Fréjus resort, ignoring any side roads. After a hairpin bend to the left, pass under the bridge of a ski run and join Rue du Cheval Blanc, at the top of the resort. At the signpost, turn right under the bridge. Further on, at a hairpin bend to the left, you’ll come to a junction.
(16) At the sign, ignore the road on the left towards the Stopover Lodge les Tavernes, and continue along the path on the right. Cross the Pont Traversier, then arrive at a Fork in the road in the hamlet of Plan Monin.
(17) At the junction sign, follow the path to the right. Cross the bridge over the Ruisseau du Charmaix; just after this, ignore the path to the right. You’ll reach a junction on leaving the hamlet of Les Herbiers.
(18) Ignore the path on the right and stay on the GR®5 straight ahead. Follow the stream valley (south–south-west). Head towards the stream. Ignore the shortcut towards the gorge and avoid it by climbing up a ridge. Gradually return towards the stream, ignoring the paths on the right. Cross the bridge over the Ruisseau du Charmaix.
(19) On the opposite bank, leave the path straight ahead and follow the stream to the right (south-west). Pass a footbridge on the right. When you reach a reservoir (alt. 1910 m), ignore the access path to the left. Staying close to the stream, follow the switchbacks up the steep slope opposite (south-west). At the final switchback, ignore the path to the left and head for the junction at the Chalet de la Losa.
(20) At the signpost, ignore the path on the right leading to the Mont Thabor Refuge and take the path on the left towards the Col de la Vallée Étroite. Walk past the Chalet de la Levette. At the junction (alt. 2270 m), ignore the path heading in the opposite direction to the left towards a chalet. Continue straight on (south) until you reach a fork.
(21) At the signpost, ignore the path on the left (south) towards the Chalet de la Replanette, and continue straight ahead (south–south-west) to reach a junction.
(22) At the signpost, ignore the path leading off to the left in the opposite direction towards the Col de la Replanette, and stay on the path straight ahead (south-west). After 100 m (alt. 1400 m), ignore the shortcut to the left, stay on the GR®5 to the right, and reach a junction downstream of a pond.
(23) At the signpost, ignore the path to the right (going in the opposite direction) towards the Refuge du Mont Thabor, the path to the left leading to the shortcut, and the GR®57 straight ahead on the right (south–south-west). Continue along the GR®5 straight ahead (south), skirting the pond on your right, to reach the Col de la Vallée Étroite.
(24) At the pass, take care not to take the direct descent of the GR®57 (to the right (south), then (west), towards the Col du Thabor), but turn left (east), almost level with the pass. You will rejoin (alt. 2420 m) the shortcut from the junctions (22) and (23).
(25) Head down to the right (south), following a stream. Carefully make your way down the steep, stony and slippery slope of the Grosse Somme. Reach the Plaine de Tavernette, then descend the valley of the same name. At the Pont de la Fonderie, cross the Ruisseau de la Vallée Étroite and follow it (south-east) for 250 m until you reach a junction.
(26) At the signpost, ignore the paths to the right and left and continue straight ahead. At the Fork in the road (alt. 1890 m), ignore the path on the left which rejoins the GR®5. Further down, you’ll reach a junction.
(27) At the signpost, ignore the path leading off to the left (in the opposite direction) towards Lac Vert, and continue straight ahead. At the fork centred on a chalet, take the left-hand path, pass the Chalets des Serres, and reach the Granges de la Vallée Étroite (alt. 1,760 m) (E).
Visorando Member
Very difficult 
Moderate 
