6: Le Vercors and Spring!

 

I'll start with a photo of Flat Stanley and the lady at the local boulangerie.  In short, the Flat Stanley character is based on the works of a writer in Ontario.  It's to help educate grade school children with geography, the world, etc.  This character was sent to me by my great niece, Rebecca.  FS has been with me for most of my travels in Europe.  Do a web search for Flat Stanley if you want to know more.  (see photo of FS)  This character has received quite a few laughs as I find interesting places to take his (her?) picture.  I'm guessing "Flat" is a guys name, but it's only a guess. After our breakfast stop at the boulangerie we headed off on another trip, to the mountains and valleys southwest of Grenoble.

 

The northern end of the Vercors are quite close to Grenoble, just a few miles.  Only in the past fifty or so years have the valleys of the Vercors been easily reachable.  The mountains surrounding the large central valley of the Vercors are extremely steep, even vertical in most places.  This remoteness has resulted in minimal migration to the area.  Mt. Aiguille is the most obvious landmark in the region and is pictured on many postcards.  (left)

 

Poor planning for our trip this Sunday forced us to stop for gas.  Villages enroute are few.  All the gas stations were closed but we saw a few cars at one station so we stopped.  It was a pay-at-the-pump arrangement.  When the cars vacated the pumps we pulled up and I put in my credit card.  No go.  Tried another card.  Again, no good.  Another car pulled in, a Porsche Boxster (excellent country for such a car -- fine roads and little enforcement). 

We fumbled with the usual language barrier and learned a few things.  First, the guy lives in the local village but works in Shanghai, China. (does anyone work near their home anymore!?). And second, it seems as though the French credit cards require a PIN and the USA cards would not work at the unattended pump.  We arranged to give the guy 20 euro and he kindly used his credit card to fill our tank.  So, why can't we have a PIN on our credit cards??

 

 

Railroad trestles are everywhere in France.  Big surprise, eh, given the number of trains and mountains in this country.  No telling how long it took to build some of these but here is one that I thought was pretty cool. 

 

 

 

 

There are also plenty of old stone buildings to photograph here too.  If I were more patient, photographing stone buildings would certainly be more rewarding than my photo essay on French toilet flushing buttons.

 

 

 

 

 

In the area known as les Grand Goulets, about 50 miles SW of Grenoble, you'll see a road and dozens of tunnels carved through the rock of a canyon wall.  This road was built between 1843 and 1854 for commercial transport.  (right and below)

 

I returned to France on March 31st, following a weekend of heavy snow in New York.  One week out of each month I manage to find my way home to a little house on the other side of the trees. 

 

 

 

 

In France, however, Spring has definitely arrived.  Temps are frequently in the sixties or higher.  Every bar and restaurant puts out their tables at the first sign of good weather. 

 

 

 

The trees and flowers are blooming and the artists have begun to sell their winter wares in the parks.  (tables in the Roman Grand Rue below and Alps over Place Verdon).