Le Praz, the old hamlet

Le Praz, also called Courchevel 1300, is what Courchevel was before it became a resort: a Savoyard hamlet of dark timber farmhouses with stone bases and deep eaves, a church, a few narrow lanes and a small lake at the edge. It sits in the trees at the bottom of the valley, about ten minutes down the road from 1850, and it is by far the most photogenic of the four villages.

The frames here are close and warm. Weathered larch boards, snow on a low roof, a lit window, a lane between two barns. The lake freezes and takes reflections when it does not; the church makes a simple anchor at the centre of the hamlet. Because it is low and wooded, the light is softer than up at 1850 and lasts differently — the valley goes into shadow early in winter, so the working window is the middle of the day rather than the ends of it.

Above the roofs stand the two ski jumps built for the 1992 Albertville Olympics, which held the ski jumping and Nordic combined events. They are still in use for training and they dominate the skyline: an odd, strong piece of concrete geometry over a village of wooden barns, and worth a frame of its own.

Everything here is a lived-in village rather than a resort street. Lanes are narrow and mostly private property beyond the road; park in the marked area and walk, and keep sessions out of people's doorways.