barge1914
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The recent thread on Mental Roads prompted me to mention the Vercors District in France. Its often bypassed on the way to more well known areas, meaning even in the summer holidays it can be relatively quiet. It has some quite outstanding sights, so I thought I’d give it a brief airing. A few years ago we made a little detour from our Alpine wandering to have a look, and these places and roads stuck in my memory.
The Vercors is a mountainous limestone area with a high plateau lying south west of Grenoble. From south of Grenoble the D531 climbs steeply up the flanks of Le Moucherotte giving a great birds-eye view back over Grenoble and its valley. Continuing via St Nizier the road drops steeply again to Lans in Vercors, and on to Villard les Lans where above the town is a nice free aire (45.066181, 5.556076. no services) with views over meadows and hills.
The D531 continues down the sinuous Gorges de La Bourne, carving its way through the plunging sides of the gorge, dodging low overhanging cliffs…which are doable with a coach-built van, but take a bit of negotiating!
The gorge emerges at Pont-en-Royons, from where a short hop leads to the D76 which heads towards ‘the main course’ of the trip, a drive up Combe Laval.
Combe Lavel is a vast limestone shear sided bowl. The D76 climbs steeply up and then through a series of narrow airy balconies and tunnels climbs up out of the declivity up onto the high limestone plateau. Passing other vehicles can offer a few moments of entertainment!
Above the gorge, peeling off the A76 a little leads to Font d’Urles and a nice little known Aire in a sheltered basin at an equestrian centre (44.898039, 5.320547: free to stay but water, showers and elec. payant). From here there are walks into a Geopark area to visit interesting limestone features, and peer over a great escarpment with towering views over the Rhone Valley. There’s another more crowded paying Aire futher on at Vassieux-en-Vercors. A little further on one can join the D518 and either complete a circuit back to Lans, or as we did, go down to St Die, and then via D315/D120 circle round to Chichilianne close to Mont Aiguille (Reminiscent of the mountain in ‘Close Encounters?).
There’s lots of walking routes around Chichilianne, to make the best of them we parked up one night in Chichilianne village, and another in nearby Richardiere at a small free Aire at little ’Nordic Walking Centre (44.822678, 5.547307) water/ emptying free, pay elec.)
The Vercors is a mountainous limestone area with a high plateau lying south west of Grenoble. From south of Grenoble the D531 climbs steeply up the flanks of Le Moucherotte giving a great birds-eye view back over Grenoble and its valley. Continuing via St Nizier the road drops steeply again to Lans in Vercors, and on to Villard les Lans where above the town is a nice free aire (45.066181, 5.556076. no services) with views over meadows and hills.
The D531 continues down the sinuous Gorges de La Bourne, carving its way through the plunging sides of the gorge, dodging low overhanging cliffs…which are doable with a coach-built van, but take a bit of negotiating!
The gorge emerges at Pont-en-Royons, from where a short hop leads to the D76 which heads towards ‘the main course’ of the trip, a drive up Combe Laval.
Combe Lavel is a vast limestone shear sided bowl. The D76 climbs steeply up and then through a series of narrow airy balconies and tunnels climbs up out of the declivity up onto the high limestone plateau. Passing other vehicles can offer a few moments of entertainment!
Above the gorge, peeling off the A76 a little leads to Font d’Urles and a nice little known Aire in a sheltered basin at an equestrian centre (44.898039, 5.320547: free to stay but water, showers and elec. payant). From here there are walks into a Geopark area to visit interesting limestone features, and peer over a great escarpment with towering views over the Rhone Valley. There’s another more crowded paying Aire futher on at Vassieux-en-Vercors. A little further on one can join the D518 and either complete a circuit back to Lans, or as we did, go down to St Die, and then via D315/D120 circle round to Chichilianne close to Mont Aiguille (Reminiscent of the mountain in ‘Close Encounters?).
There’s lots of walking routes around Chichilianne, to make the best of them we parked up one night in Chichilianne village, and another in nearby Richardiere at a small free Aire at little ’Nordic Walking Centre (44.822678, 5.547307) water/ emptying free, pay elec.)
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