Saint-Veran

Saint-Veran sits between about two thousand and two thousand and forty metres in the Queyras, generally called the highest permanently inhabited village in France, and the buildings answer the altitude: houses combine a stone lower floor for people and animals with a timber upper structure of stacked larch logs open to the air, used to dry hay and grain in a short season. Carved wooden crosses stand along the street and sundials are painted on facades. The climate is dry and very sunny, which is why an astronomical observatory was built above the village at nearly three thousand metres.

What you actually see

• The larch hay lofts - open timber upper storeys above stone ground floors.
• The mission crosses - carved wooden crosses along the village street.
• The painted sundials - dials on house fronts through the Queyras.
• The observatory - an astronomical station on the ridge above.

When to go

July to September for walking and January to March for cross-country skiing; the village is high, cold and can be snowbound between. The road up the Queyras is long and winding.

Honest expectations

At two thousand metres the air is thin and nights are cold even in July. The village is small with limited services and cars are restricted. Access roads can close in winter storms.

Nearby

The Queyras regional park surrounds it; Guillestre lies down the valley.