Hiking - Chemin des morts
This walk is not well-suited for young children due to some tricky sections.
A beautiful walk through the forest to the village of Fontaine-le-Puits.
D1 :From the car park in Salins-les-thermes, take the road in the opposite direction of Moûtiers (on the right-hand side when facing the town hall) and cross through the village to the footbridge. Cross it and turn left before taking the path that climbs straight ahead (above the large car park).
In the centre of the village of Léchaud, turn left and cross the Route des Belleville. Follow the path on your right, then further on, turn left at the intersection. You will reach the Route des Belleville; walk a few metres along this road uphill.
Continue following the itinerary from D2.
Medium-difficulty variant:
D2 : At the place called Lechant-Crey, in the bend, take the path that goes up on your left towards Fontaine-le-Puits..
Why the name "Chemin des morts?"
When Fontaine-le-Puits was part of the Salins parish, the dead were carried from Fontaine-le-Puits down to Salins-les-Thermes .
Two place names serve as reminders: the "Chemin des Morts", the path leading from Fontaine to Salins, and the Reposoir stone (Reposu in local dialect), where the coffin was set down by the pallbearers so they could rest for a moment.
You will find this stone at the edge of the path; you can't miss it.
Human settlement in Fontaine-le-Puits, above the Moûtiers basin, is one of the oldest in the Tarentaise region. Three tombs were discovered in 1909 while digging the foundations for the Maison Chavoutier, in the middle of the village. The artefacts from one of the tombs are significant: flint arrowheads, a copper dagger
and halberd, as well as a pendant and a flat axe made of the same metal. The skeletons were lying on their right side, with their legs bent. Similar tombs have been found south of Lake Garda in Lombardy, in places like Polada and Remedello. This is the so-called Remedello culture of the Chalcolithic period (2000 - 1800 BC).