Walking and Trekking in the Gran Paradiso. Gillian Price

      Glorious Mont Blanc (AV stage 12)

      Three-day extension: If you have three more days to spare, an extension to the AV2 is warmly recommended to include an exploration of the spectacular snow-and ice-bound upper southernmost parts of Valsavarenche, Val di Rhêmes and Valgrisenche. Leave the official AV2 route at Eaux Rousses (at the end of Stage 5) for Pont (summer bus or 5km by road). Then follow Walk 12 to Pian del Nivolet and on to Col Rosset and Rifugio Benevolo (Walk 15). After this, follow Walk 17 via Col Bassac Déré to Rifugio Bezzi and down towards Uselères, where there is a link to Rifugio Chalet de l'Epée to resume the AV2 at Stage 8.

      Getting to the start: Coaches and slow Ivrea-Aosta trains stop at Hône-Bard in Valle d'Aosta. Year-round buses run up the Valle di Champorcher to Chardonney from the small square near the railway station, in the shadow of the fortress.

STAGE 1

      Chardonney to Rifugio Dondena

      The Alta Via 2 begins amid the beautiful alpine landscapes of Valle di Champorcher. The close-knit local community, with its time-honoured traditions, is descended from herdsmen-settlers from Valle Soana to the south. Two picturesque stories account for the curious name Champorcher: the first concerns San Porciero, a Roman legionary and companion of San Besso (see Walk 27) said to have taken refuge in AD302 near Lago Miserin (Stage 2), where he was inspired to begin preaching. A second story attributes the origin of the name to the pigs once bred in the valley on the fruit of the oak and beech trees that then died out after a dramatic temperature drop in the 16th and 17th centuries.

      The starting point of Chardonney (nothing to do with the grape but a reference to ‘agglomeration of thistles’) has grocery shops where you can stock up on sargnun, a tasty cheese (object of the ‘fêta d'i sargnun’ village festival held late September) which comes fresh, salted or smoked. It is consumed with pane nero, the local rye-bread, these days likely to be freshly baked rather than rock hard according to tradition. It used to be baked only twice a year, leading to the invention of those wooden bread boards with a built-in chopper which you will see on display. A handful of hotels operate (such as Hotel Chardoney tel 0125 376011 www.hotel-chardoney.com).