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A river boat glides serenely on the Bourne in summer


Breath of fresh air


Breathe deep and enjoy the fresh mountain air of the Vercors regional park – and you may fi nd your perfect home in one of the charming villages, says Carolyn Reynier


I


magine a place where you ski in winter and go caving, rock climbing or hiking through magnifi cent landscapes the


rest of the year; a place where the less energetic can simply breathe in pure mountain air and enjoy spectacular views. You’re imagining the southern Vercors. We are in the 206,000-hectare Parc Naturel Régional (PNR) du Vercors in northeastern Drôme in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. This is middle mountain


country lying at the foot of the wild natural reserve of the upper Vercors plateaux to the east, with the verdant valleys of Royans to the west. The massif was home to the


Vercors Maquis during the Second World War and the German army and Luftwaff e infl icted terrible loss of life and damage in their eff orts to eliminate it. The Musée de la Résistance en Vercors, the national necropolis at Vassieux- en-Vercors and the Memorial at 1,300m overlooking the Vassieux plain and the Vercors massif tell the story. There’s an abundance of


fl ora and fauna here – you may La Chapelle-en-Vercors, one of the area’s fi ve communes


see eagles, marmots, chamois in the Vercors forest and meadows, subterranean caves and wide open spaces. It’s a great place for family cross- country skiing (ski de fond) and there’s some downhill (ski alpin) too, with resorts at Herbouilly, Font d’Urle and Col de Rousset. We’ll travel from the Bourne gorges south through the fi ve communes – St-Julien-en-Vercors, St-Martin- en-Vercors, La Chapelle-en- Vercors, Aignan-en-Vercors and Vassieux-en-Vercors (did I mention we were in the


68 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: November/December 2023


Vercors?). For larger centres, drive northeast to Villard-de- Lans over the border in Isère or west to St-Jean-en-Royans; for urbanites, there are Grenoble or Valence. We’ll fi nish our journey with a look at property in subprefecture Die and the surrounding Diois countryside.


MASSIF MOMENTS I speak to Annelise Gillet at Vercors Sud Immo in La Chapelle-en-Vercors (population 770). Nature, pure air, breathtaking landscapes, a diversity of outdoor


activities winter and summer, tranquillity and security – this defi nes the Vercors Sud, she says. La Chapelle is the chef-lieu of the fi ve villages on the southern Vercors plateau and is perched at an altitude of 945m in the heart of the massif. Enclosed by steep rocky elevations, it is accessed by several tourist routes, including the 1,700m Grands Goulets tunnel (the Drôme’s longest.) The village was rebuilt after


the confl ict so in the centre you’ll fi nd post-war terraced stone village houses – two or


© L. PASCALE / DRÔME ATTRACTIVITÉ


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