Between Mont Aiguille and Grand Veymont

6 points of interest

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  Ski resort of Gresse-en-Vercors

  Since 1965, Gresse-en-Vercors has hosted a small 24-lane ski resort, located between 1250 m and 1750 m altitude. Nordic skiing is also present, with 50 km of groomed trails.
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  Life in the rock

  In scree slopes, life conditions are difficult for plants, and the fallen rock debris can become unstable and migrate slowly downslope by solifluxion. Many different strategies can be adopted by plants to survive. 
  
  Studies conducted in the Pyrenees have shown there are two strategies:
  1/ Immigrant lithophilic plants can anchor and extend their roots even while the rockslides are moving,
  2/ Some trees such as hook pine are able to stretch
  their trunks while remaining anchored far upslope.

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  Ambush at Col de l'Allimas

  On July 24, 1944, German troops went looking for a young member of the Resistance called Georges Mouttet. He was not in when the troops arrived at the family home, but they interrogated his widowed mother, Blanche Mouttet, with great brutality. Her cries were heard by the woman living next door.
  
  When the torturers didn’t find out the information about her son they had come looking for, they finished Blanche off with blows from a pickaxe. Her body was burnt in her own home, the fire spreading to the rest of the hamlet, sparing the only house on the other side of the road.

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  Romantic Mont Aiguille

  The Romantic movement reached its peak in the 19th century. Mont Aiguille became a key subject of landscape paintings, often in tandem with agricultural scenes that depicted an ideal of harmony. Mont Aiguille offered these Romantic artists an aesthetic that you can explore from the various angles offered by the surrounding summits and plateaus.
  
  The style of the period depicts an idealised Mont Aiguille, the symbol of nature in all its harmony. Humans make only discreet appearances, pictured performing their daily tasks or in contemplation. The paintings convey a serenity and tranquillity that contrasts strongly with the hustle and bustle of our lives in the modern world.

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  The stone-walled enclosures of Gresse

  In Gresse, stones and pebbles have been cleared from the land over many generations so the soil can be used for cultivation. The stones were removed by hand and piled up to form boundaries for the fields. This ancestral practice leaves a particular mark on the landscape and can be found in other regions with stony terrains, such as in the Massif Central or Scotland.

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  Stone of Remembrance

  After the Allied landings on June 6, 1944, growing numbers of Resistance fighters climbed the south-eastern edge of the Vercors to join the Maquis who had gathered in the mountains, which was now a very attractive proposition for them. But few men were on hand to guard these high, narrow passages when the 157th Alpine Reserve Division launched a widespread attack on July 21, 1944. Under the command of General Pflaum, the aim of the Germans was to crush the Vercors Maquis. In spite of the courage and bravery they showed during the fighting, the watchmen were quickly overcome by an enemy with superior numbers and weapons. The order to disperse was received on July 23, leaving military victory to the Germans. Resistance fighters from inside the plateau were also cut down when they tried to exfiltrate through the passes. This stone, placed symbolically at the foot of the Pas de la Ville, serves as a reminder of them.