Cows at 2500 metres on the Grand Bec - the photo that started it all. Warm brown hides against harsh mountain rock.

Last of the evening sun warms the high mountainside, with the Vanoise glacier behind.

Les Avals at high noon. A long ski trek to this valley , and solitude if you are lucky.

Vivid blue gentianes grow only above 2000 metres altitude.

Broadleaf woodland, oak and beech, covers the first third of the mountainsides.

Champagny-en-Vanoise and the church of Saint Sigismond one early morning in spring.

A mountain stream flows through alpine pasture in summer above Pralognan-en-Vanoise.

The glacier can be a formidable sight even on an August afternoon.

Fine, silvery mud in the remains of a glacial lake beyond Champagny-le-Haut.

Alpine goat - milk and cheese with attitude. Her name is Grand Bec too.

Mossy limbs of a beech tree. The leaves turn to brown but most hang on the branch 'til spring.

Sunlight on water in a pool - the camera captures an instant of what the eye sees.

Midsummer's morning dewdrops on long grass. Beauty at your feet.

Helix Pomatia.   Don't tell him, but he's an edible snail.

Nature's camouflage.

Snow finch with his downy feathers set at maximum fluff.

Looking west above Champagny-le-Haut, down the steep-sided valley carved by the retreating glacier.

Balancing rocks - everything has its point of equilibrium.

Look closely at rocks - they are always made up of older rocks.

The hamlet of Le Bois in the high valley of Champagny-le-Haut. Houses face inwards and are roofed in sheet metal or stone slabs called 'lauzes'. They will have to bear a metre of snow in winter.

My favourite picture. These are the very last of Henri's intensely sweet grapes. His vineyard is no more.

Moutiers on Tuesday's market day, held in the Place Saint Pierre.

Cycling at altitude. It always feels good to reach the 'col'.