Plan de Jupiter to Aosta (Italy)

The Great St Bernard road to Aosta (Italy) skirts a small lake, rarely ice-free even in summer, through which runs the Swiss-Italian frontier (Italian customs control in summer). To the right is the Plan de Jupiter, with a stone cross (1816) and a bronze statue of St Bernard (1905). The name Plan de Jupiter, like the earlier name of the pass, Mont Joux (Mons Jovis), recalls a Roman temple to Jupiter Poeninus which stood here. The road now descends in a wide curve past the hamlet of La Baux and a large crag, the Gour des Fous, to the Cantine d'Aoste (2,217 m/7,274ft; Italian customs), in a green hollow. From here it winds its way down to Aosta. To the left is the exit from the tunnel (1,875 m/6,152ft; Italian and Swiss passport and customs control for entry to Switzerland). The road then crosses the expressway coming from the tunnel and descends, with two sharp turns, to the left bank of the Torrente Artanavaz and the village of St Rhémy (1,632 m/5,355ft) which is situated in a wooded defile. The expressway bypasses the village to the west. The road then bears right through the deeply eroded Combes des Bosses, and in another 2.5km/2mi is joined by the expressway from the tunnel exit (9.5km/6mi).