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For a really beautiful day excursion from Briancon, head for the valley of the River Claree . Without your own transport, you'll have to hitch or walk, but that should be no hardship because the scenery is truly magnificent. Leave Briancon by the Montgenevre road and take the left fork after 2km. A lane follows the wooded river bank along the bottom of a narrow ravine parallel to the Italian frontier. On foot you can follow the GR5 , which passes through the main villages. If you want to spend a night up here, the depopulated and half-ruined hamlet of PLAMPINET , 11km from the beginning of the valley road, has both hotel and hostel-type accommodation in a vast renovated farm, La Cleida (tel 04.92.21.32.48; under 160F/?24; open mid-June to mid-Sept, and Christmas & Feb school hols), with comfortable beds, as well as better-equipped rooms at the Auberge de la Claree by the bridge (tel 04.92.21.37.71; 220-300F/?34-46). Alternatively, head for NEVACHE , 6km past Plampinet, where the valley widens; it has already seen a good deal of holiday development, though the village's old nucleus of wide-roofed houses still huddles protectively around the church . This is worth a look for its carving, Baroque altarpiece and a few items in the treasury, including some eleventh-century doors. There are plenty of gites here, including Le Creux des Souches (tel 04.92.21.16.34). Beyond Nevache, towards the head of the valley, the scenery becomes even finer - in May the meadows are carpeted with crocuses and run with snow melt, and fat marmots whistle from the rocks. Six kilometres past the village, there are more refuges , including two by the first bridge - Fontcouverte and La Fruitiere - and another at the end of the road, as well as the CAF Refuge des Drayeres on the slopes of Mont Thabor (tel 04.92.21.36.01), none of which are open for much more than the summer season. A full list of refuges and gites with a map of their locations is available from the tourist office at Briancon.
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