Thanks to the GR® 58, this stage joins the North and South sides of the Guil and crosses several muandos, summer habitats for the period between Easter and Christmas, typical of the Queyras region.
Under the crest of Croseras, the trail leaves the high-altitude pastures and heads to the Lauze pass, named after the local black slate, a primary material used in the traditional rooftops in high mountain areas (together with larch shingles used for the walls). Between the tumbling streams, which are a direct source of water for the Guil, and the coniferous forests, the Escoyères hamlets gleam in the sun, whose brilliance and constant presence in this area is a well-known fact. An old Roman road, sign of the Queyras occupation, explains the construction of these high-altitude villages. Before becoming the summer chalets of the Guillestrois people, they were used as strategic lookout posts. One chapel follows another, like a materialisation of saving faith against natural and human hostilities: Ste Madeleine is built in Roman stone covered by the inscriptions so characteristic of the people of the “Quadriates” (the Queyras region).
After crossing the Guil, a stream which has wrecked havoc with its many floods (e.g. in 1957 and 2001) but which is also a “playground” for countless sport enthusiasts (rafting, kayaking, hydrospeed), the trail heads up to the main town of Bramousse, which demonstrates the typical spatial organisation of the Alps. It is not far from the valley with a simple but nevertheless important religious heritage (chapels and wayside shrines), and further up, the summer chalets with their chapel are joined to the rest by a ski slope.
Further down, the village of Ceillac appears where the Mélézet and Cristillan valleys meet. The splendid church of Ste Cécile welcomes the trail to the muando of Clapière villages, with its Lombard-Romanesque steeple. This XIXth century historical monument, listed since 1972, is an example of the architecture specific to this mountain market town. A tour of the village reveals the particularity of the Ceillac habitat, where the L-shaped houses have numerous facades covered in sundials to keep the time. Several mills and bread or charcoal ovens are signs of the human activities practiced alongside pastoralism. One farm has even been classified as an historical monument: the Maison Chabrand dating back to the XVIIth century.
These pages of history, from Roman times until today, can be felt in the life of Ceillac. The local patois was only replaced by French in 1931, and the traditional costume with the women’s linen cap decorated by a ruche, an embroidered bandeau folded on the forehead, only stopped being worn recently. On the other hand, the quadrille of Ceillac and the piqua (“polka piqué” folk dance), typical of the village, are brought back to life from time to time for patronal feasts. And the crousetons, manuis - hand-made pasta – and Ceillac blue (cow’s cheese) are still enjoyed as savoury dishes.
This stage of the Sundials route thus marries the heritage of past generations with daily life, tourism and traditional agriculture.
(Sara Zeidler, Gilles Chappaz, Grande Traversée des Alpes)