In reply to Bigedthehead:
It is far easier to traverse the Tete Blanche and drop down to the Col Valpelline which then joins the routes your talking about. The last time I looked up the Col des Bouquetins (2008?) I always felt glad I had never tried to descend it as a short cut. Very steep and loose scree/bare ice and in many years looked impassable to me. The route is otherwise fabulous views with the normal crevasse hazards minimised by keeping as close as you dare to the cliffs above you but away from the glacier dropping towards Aosta.
Conditions may have changed but old guides from memory mixed up these cols.