Around Les Vigneaux and Grand Parcher

C’est en mars que ce grand rapace brun sur le dessus et blanc moucheté de noir en dessous, avec la tête sombre, revient d’Afrique subsaharienne où il a passé l’hiver. Il se nourrit surtout de reptiles qu'il chasse dans les zones steppiques ou dénudées, les friches ou les pierrailles. Il construit son nid dans un pin où grandira un seul poussin. On peut facilement l’observer faisant du surplace dans les airs, à une trentaine de mètres du sol, puis fondre sur sa proie.

In the wood, downy oaks grow alongside Scots pines. . It is a small oak tree with marescent leaves: they dry out in the autumn but remain on the tree all winter. It is called "downy" because the young branches, buds and sometimes the undersides of its leaves are covered in a fine down. Forests of Scots pine and downy oak are typical of the warm, south-facing mountain slopes in intra-alpine valleys. 

You might be lucky enough to spot the white admiral and the southern white admiral, butterflies with dark wing uppers intersected by a white strip and with an orangey-fawn underside. They are difficult to spot as they use their colouring and the shadows under the trees to blend into the background. They are both very shy. These two species are very similar; the females, unusually, lay their eggs on honeysuckles.

The sundial is an eighteenth-century tradition widespread across the Southern Alps where the sun is ever-present. Artisan sundial makers produced these sundials, which were added as a decoration to house fronts, religious buildings or, as here, a tower. The sayings inscribed on them make some of these artistic works philosophical as well as decorative. 

The church of Saint-Laurent with its elegant porch dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. On its south wall there are frescoes depicting the vices, dragged towards hell by a demon, and their punishments. Enough to make you shudder! Its Lombard Romanesque bell tower has a very rare one-handed clock dating from the eighteenth century. It is one of the oldest working clocks of its type.

L'Étrurie était le territoire des Étrusques et correspond à l’actuelle Toscane. Si ce chèvrefeuille ne vit pas uniquement en Toscane, il est néanmoins méditerranéen et, à l’état naturel, pousse uniquement dans la moitié sud de la France. Ayant besoin de chaleur et il ne vit pas en altitude sauf ici, où l’adret est particulièrement sec et chaud. Ses grandes fleurs roses et jaunes sont particulièrement odorantes. 

Si on ne s'y attend pas forcément, on peut cependant observer régulièrement des hérons cendrés le long de la Gyronde. S'il pêche poissons ou amphibiens, il peut aussi se nourrir,de petits rongeurs dans les prairies avoisinant la rivière. Sa technique est toujours la même, une chasse à l'affût avec, une fois la proie repérée, une détente foudroyante du cou et le harponnage avec son bec en poignard. Redoutable !

In the spring, an odd song can be heard among the old trees in the orchard, a loud song similar to that of the green woodpecker, only slower. It is that of the northern wryneck. This bird owes its name to the extreme way it extends and twists its neck when it feels threatened. Its French name torcol fourmilier is a reference to the fact that it feeds on ants (fourmils in French). Difficult to spot because its plumage merges into the colour of the tree trunks, it gives its presence away by its song when it returns from its migration.

The hamlet of Grand Parcher stands on the alluvial cone formed by the Grand Parcher mountain stream, and on either side of it. It is made up of several old houses and the seventeenth-century chapel of Saint-André. It has two sun dials painted onto its walls. One of them bears the saying HORA INCERTA CUNTIS, ULTIMA MULTIS (This hour is uncertain for all, it is the last hour for many). Food for thought!

No, we're not in south-west France where the Gironde flows! The Gyronde (spelt with a «y»!) is the river that flows between Vallouise and L'Argentière-La Bessée, where it flows into the Durance. It originates from the Gyr and Onde mountain streams which merge in Vallouise.

After the bridge, a large plant with flowers arranged in umbels (in other words, an umbellifer) clings to a small rock bar to the right of the track, the laserwort. This plant belongs to the family Apiaceae, which used to be called umbellifers, and grows in dry areas. It has a distinctive feature: in autumn, the basal part of the stem breaks of its own accord and the entire plant, now dry, sets off rolling down the hillside like a large ball, or is blown by the wind.

Ripisylve, la «  forêt des rives » est une forêt bien particulière peuplée de saules, d'aulnes auxquels peuvent s'ajouter peupliers, trembles ou bouleaux et bordant les cours d'eau. Elle présente de nombreux intérêts en termes de biodiversité, de prévention des risques naturels ou de lutte contre l’érosion des sols. Mais les différents usages et aménagements des cours d’eau l'ont fragmentée voire totalement fait disparaître.

The track rises gently up the right-hand bank of the Gyronde, on the "ubac" side. The "ubac" is the slope that is exposed to the north, so it is in shadow in winter when the sun is low in the sky.

Jusqu'au 12ème siècle, la Vallouise se nommait Vallis Gerentonica et le cours d'eau la drainant, du glacier blanc à la Durance, Gérendoine. Puis la vallée a changé plusieurs fois de nom et les cartographes se succédant ont attribué des noms différents à la rivière après chaque confluent, ont nommé la Gérendoine la Gironde puis Gyronde.

At the bottom of a water fountain, on the edge of a ditch a plant grows which resembles a large bottle brush... or a horse's tail, depending on your imagination. It's the field horsetail, a plant related to ferns. It is known for its medicinal properties because it is rich in silica, a powerful remineraliser for the bones, cartilage and skin. There are several species of horsetail.

A very common bird, the chaffinch lives in forests as well as villages. The male is in shades of pink, with a blue-grey cap; the female is duller, in shades of greenish grey. It is a rather gregarious bird, except in the breeding season, and the birds often communicate with one another by their « pink, pink » calls. It is partially migratory. The populations from Northern Europe come to spend the winter in France and other temperate countries.

On the edge of the track, there is a large stand of Scots pines. This softwood tree can be identified by the beautiful salmon colour of its branches and the upper part of its trunk. Its short bluish-green needles are grouped in pairs. Capable of withstanding both low temperatures and summer droughts, it is perfectly adapted to the semi-continental climate of intra-alpine valleys. 

This hamlet owes its name to an old fortified house, no longer in existence, owned by the lords of La Bâtie. The colourful little chapel is dedicated to Saint Claudius.