The hay barns

Barns can be spotted along the entire route up to Duis, which were previously used to store hay. Their architecture is particular to the Haute-Maurienne: the locals used the materials most available locally such as stone. This explains the dry stone walls as well as the lauze roofs. Large openings made it easy to store the hay, while other smaller openings allowed it to be aired. The upper parts of the barns and chalets are often semi-buried to merge into the slope and thus guard against winter avalanches.