Français
English
Rhone-Alps
Vercors
The large regional park of Vercors has very beautiful sceneries. In winter, its sky resorts draw skiers, mostly in Villard-de-Lans (downhill skiing, cross country skiing...). In the region, we can also notice houses with stepped gable.
A small museum of the resistance in Chapel-en-Vercors and several panels recall the past of guerrillas resistance during WWII in the region.
Pont-en-Royans
Bourne gorges
Towards Choranche, we can take the steep Bourne gorges road surrounded by limestone massifs.
Choranche caves
Outside the caves, we can enjoy a walk in the cirque of Choranche to discover a waterfall and mountain scenery.
Choranche caves are known for their "fistulous" stalactites (very thin stalactites) which are reflected in the water of a lake created by the runoff of rainwater.
The fistulous stalactites are created by rainwater that seeps quickly into micro-cracks in the limestone (300 m / 985 feet in 5 minutes only). A fistulous stalactite is hollow : the drop passes through the inside to deposit calcite on the section. The expansion of a fistulous stalactite is estimated to 5 cm (2 inches) per century...
There are also aquariums with proteus. The proteus is a cave amphibian coming from prehistoric times (it would have appeared 140 million years ago). This animal, although relatively small (the size of a salamander) is the largest cave animal. It has therefore no predator but wa can only find him (in nature) in caves of Slovenia. It has both gills and lungs and its skin is completely depigmented.
image from an advertising brochure
Grands goulets road
During my visit, Grands goulets road was unfortunately closed for safety work (supposed to last several months). So I only have pictures of the entrance...
