Notre-Dame-des-Vernettes
“Here, in the peaks, mountain pastures and religious buildings, everything calls you to contemplation and thought. A good idea to get away from the turmoil of daily life. Naturalists and photographers at heart will not be disappointed either”. Benjamin Plumecocq, Vanoise National Park ranger
Description
From the bus stop, continue along the paved road, cross the bridge and take the road on the left in the direction of the hamlet of La Chenarie. Cross the hamlet and take the vehicle track on the right which enters the forest. Follow it to the 1st hairpin bend and take the trail in the direction of ""Pracompuet”. Cross the hamlet and take the trail in the direction of “Les Vernettes”. Once back on a vehicle track, follow it to the Notre-Dame des Vernettes sanctuary. After visiting the sanctuary, turn back and join the trail in the direction of the “Source Miraculeuse”. Follow the trail that crosses the thalweg descending from the Aiguille Grive and enter the forest. Climb 150 m and take the trail that leads to the right. Follow “La Chénarie”. Once back on a vehicle track, follow it for 150 m, then take the trail that gœs right, still in the direction of ""La Chenarie"". This trail takes you back to the departure path at the hamlet.
"- Departure : Car park, Chapel of Sainte-Marguerite, hamlet of Chénarie, Peisey-Nancroix
- Arrival : Car park, Chapel of Sainte-Marguerite, hamlet of Chénarie, Peisey-Nancroix
- Towns crossed : PEISEY-NANCROIX
Altimetric profile
Recommandations
Enquire at the Tourist Office for the visit of Notre-Dame-des-Vernettes sanctuary
Information desks
Refuge de Rosuel, 73210 Peisey-Nancroix
Maison de Peisey, 73210 Peisey-Vallandry
Transport
Rail connection to Bourg-Saint-Maurice or Landry. Information: www.voyages-sncf.com
Shuttle bus services available from Landry railway station to the village of Peisey-Nancroix during the tourist season.
Information: www.transavoie.com
Free shuttle buses serve all the hamlets, including La Chénarie. The bus stop is located just before the bridge over the Poncet stream: stop ""Nancroix le Bon Air”.
Also think about car-sharing with www.mobisavoie.fr
Access and parking
RD 87 coming from the valley. Cross the hamlets of Peisey and Nancroix, then, just after the bridge over the Poncet stream, take the road leading up to the hamlet of Chenarie, before the chapel.
Parking :
7 points of interest
HistoryThe chapel of Saint-Jacques le Majeur in Pracompuet
It was built in 1684, and was first dedicated to Saint-Guérin, protector of horned animals, and Saint-Antoine of Padua, the greatest preacher of the Middle Ages. The chapel has a beautiful chancel in turned pine wood, a simple altarpiece with a painting in the centre of which presides an astonishing black virgin and child, undoubtedly that of the sanctuary of Oropa in Piedmont, where the inhabitants of Peisey-Nancroix worked as drapers. On the painting we also see Saint-James the Greater (Saint-Jacques le majeur) with a shell on his shoulder, a pilgrim whose grave was in Compostela.
PastoralismThe goats of Pracompuet
The hamlet of Pracompuet is unique for welcoming the goats of André Trésallet during the summer grazing period. This small dairy herd grazes on the pastures of this well exposed slope and effectively fights against the invasion of scrub on the meadows. This traditional pastoralism differs markedly from the recent changes in the production of Beaufort whereby herds are grouped together and pastoral practices are intensified.
FaunaThe red-backed shrike
"This pretty shrike, of contrasting colours, visits our mountains in the summer. It takes its name from its habit of ""flaying"" the large insects it catches by sticking them on thorny bushes, or even on barbed wire. It sometimes appears clearly visible by hunting often from a hide, dead branch or stake."- Fauna
The Apollo butterfly
This protected butterfly is one of the largest you are likely to meet in Vanoise. It is characterised by its red eyespots against the black and white hind wings, but remains difficult to differentiate from the small Apollo for the uninitiated. Its caterpillars feed on the many stonecrops and houseleek around Notre-Dame des Vernettes. 
Small heritageNotre-Dame des Vernettes
The sanctuary of Notre-Dame des Vernettes was built at the beginning of the 18th century close to a source located at an altitude of 1,816 metres, following the miraculous recovery of a Peisey resident who drank the water. The chapel which was built between 1722 and 1727 for the worship of Notre-Dame de Pitié, patron saint of the lepers is a proud representation of baroque and rococo-style art. A great pilgrimage takes place here every year on the 16th July.
FloraThe early coralroot
The early coralroot (Corallorhiza trifida) is a discrete coralroot orchid that you may be lucky to come across if you are on the lookout as it measures only 6 to 10 cm in height. Abundant on the trails of Carro Blanc forest, it is nevertheless rare in Vanoise, despite not benefiting from any protection status.- Flora
Lady’s slipper orchids
The Carro Blanc forest hosts one of the most beautiful populations of lady’s slipper orchids in the Peisey valley. This iconic protected orchid of intense bright colours has demarcated the extension of the forest tracks that often disfigure our forest massifs. This enchanting forest entreats you to seek out the slender lady’s slippers to step into.