Via Ferrata des Vigneaux

The church of Saint-Laurent with its elegant porch dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. On its south wall there are frescoes depicting the vices, dragged towards hell by a demon, and their punishments. Enough to make you shudder! Its Lombard Romanesque bell tower has a very rare one-handed clock dating from the eighteenth century. It is one of the oldest working clocks of its type.

Deer, including roe deer, chamois, and wild boar are found the forest. Their feet are hooved, made up of a horn-like material rather like human nails. They walk on the tips of some toes, the others being atrophied. This makes them more efficient runners. Deer don't have horns, but antlers which drop and regrow every year, and only in the males. Reminiscent of the shape of branches, these antlers are made from a bone-like material. 

The path offers a beautiful overall view of the limestone massif of Montbrison, overlooking the hamlets of Pelvoux and including the Cime de la Condamine, the Tête des Lauzières, the Pic de Montbrison and the Tête d'Amont.

Les Vigneaux owes its name to the vine cultivation once plied on its hillsides. The grapevine is also depicted on the town's coat of arms, which has a vineplant, and also on the traditional houses with vine trellises. Houses with grape presses are also a reminder of the importance of the grapevine.

The sundial is an eighteenth-century tradition widespread across the Southern Alps where the sun is ever-present. Artisan sundial makers produced these sundials, which were added as a decoration to house fronts, religious buildings or, as here, a tower. The sayings inscribed on them make some of these artistic works philosophical as well as decorative.