Summer hike : Couard Cavalles

A place of first appearance, where the rock predominates.Yet vegetation exists and has strategies to withstand the long snowy months, the winds and all the other rigours of altitude. You'll find flowers clustered in little moss mats, pansies, and even the smallest tree (considered as such) the creeping willow.

Pic Nord and Pic Sud, respectively Etendard (3464m) and Pic Bayle (3465m) today, hold the highest altitudes of the Grande Rousse massif.The summits of the Grand Rousses were climbed late, compared to those of Chamonix which attracted the European elite. The journeys to reach the Oisans are long and perilous and therefore explain the late ascents. The Bayle peak takes its name from the mountaineer priest of Oz who made the first ascent, hence its name.

Lac de la Fare where the famous Fare waterfall originates (easy hike proposed in our tours). La Fare could mean precipice.Legend of the Lac de la Fare: There was a time when a fortified village was built on the site of the lake. Inhabited by mountain bandits. From their eagle's nest, they would come down to plunder all the valleys of Oisans and then go back home to share the booty in wild nights of orgies. They never went to church. However, the priest rang the Sunday bell. He was constantly abused and threatened by these terrible parishioners. The priest tried to evangelise them, but nothing... On Easter Day, the priest made a last effort, and shook the bell with his whole body. Never had a more joyful chime sounded over the mountain. Alas, it was covered by blasphemies and drinking songs! Suddenly the earth shook, the rocks opened up, and the village disappeared. When calm returned, a lake was mirrored in its place. It seemed as if it had always existed. Yet some evenings, the shepherds heard a clear sound rising from the water. They come closer, intrigued: when the wind dies down and the silver-tipped waves no longer break, they catch a glimpse of a small church in the shimmering water, its bell still ringing.

You will find an explanation and a commemorative plaque. Tissot, a doctor from Grenoble, worked in a chalet transformed into a hospice in L'Alpe d'Huez.A German offensive forced the doctor, the treated resistance fighters and 11 Americans to flee Alpe d'Huez to escape the enemy. No other choice but to run into the mountains. A rugged and fractured place as much as the victims to take refuge. They start a race against time. First, they make their way through the mountain pastures as best they can. Then they continued towards the Fare refuge, and went on to the Rajon refuge. They were spared. (The 10 Americans who survived a plane crash in the Hautes Alpes crossed the Gioverney pass, arrived in Oisans and were treated by Dr Tissot. ) The refuge of La Fare welcomes you for a meal or an overnight stay.

Climb to almost 1500 m in a few minutes with the cable car.