Arêches-Boudin loop

This loop starts in the village to reach the famous village of Boudin and its chapel, before going down through the Crêt-Gérel, where the view is remarkable on the rooftops of the village of Arêches and the Planay valley.

The Hamlet of Boudin with its chapel dedicated to Saint Jacques, is registered as a protected site since 1943 and some of its chalets are listed in the heritage inventory, installed on a steep slope between 1230m and 1380m. Formerly the hamlets of Beaufortain lived isolated especially in winter. Life was then organized around several poles, which are the trough, the bread oven, the school and the chapel. This hamlet was marked by 2 violent fires, one in 1962 which destroyed 2 houses in the central part (small cottages replaced them, and the other in 2010 which destroyed 3 houses in the lower part, all three rebuilt. From this hamlet, one can observe a nice panorama on the valley of Arêches.
By etymology, Boudin might have taken his name from a former resident : Jean Boudin who lived in the village at the end of the 14th century. Or then it is said that Boudin was founded by a burgonde named Baldwin who would have given Baldinus or Boldinus. He would have founded a villa (farm): the villa Baldina became with the evolution Boldin then Boudin.