Le Lauzet (no. 11)

The Bouchouse mountain stream is fed by the Le Pansier and La Pisse mountain streams 1,900 metres above sea level. It crosses the municipality of La Roche-de-Rame, supplying it with water. This mountain stream then flows into the Durance below the municipality.

The narrow-leaved lavender has greenish-grey leaves and violet flowers. It grows in sunny areas, a reminder that the Pays de Écrins is in the Southern Alps after all! Not to be confused with the lavandin, this plant naturally grows on rocky slopes in the mountains of the Midi. The word «lavender» is thought to come from the Latin "to wash". This etymology suggests that lavender was used at a very early date to perfume washing.

Oiseau très commun, ce pinson vit aussi bien en forêt que dans les villages. Le mâle est plutôt dans les tons de rosé, avec une calotte gris bleu, la femelle plus terne dans les tons de gris vert. C’est un oiseau assez grégaire, hormis en période de reproduction. Ces oiseaux communiquent souvent entre eux par des « pink, pink ». Il est partiellement migrateur. Les populations du nord de l’Europe viennent passer l’hiver en France et autres pays tempérés.

Bel Pinet stands at 1,400 metres above sea level in the Bouchouse valley, in the municipality of La Roche-de-Rame. Bel Pinet, or Bel-Pinet, designates the slopes under the rocky cliffs of the Oumbras. It was once irrigated by the Bel Pinet Canal, which suggests that it used to be cultivated and would therefore have been less wooded. The term "Pinet" simply means a place planted with pines (Pinus in Latin). So Bel Pinet means a beautiful place planted with pines, or a beautiful pine wood.

Here, a wood of aspen trees, with smooth greenish trunks and round, crenulated leaves, adopt magnificent autumn colours. The petiole («tail») of aspen leaves is flat and twisted and can therefore be caught by the slightest breath of air. This has the effect of making the foliage tremble, hence its French name bois de tremble!

In the nineteenth century, there were four quarries in La Roche-de-Rame. They exploited deposits of metamorphosed limestone which was pink in colour. One of these, the Combe Mounière quarry, produced stone which was used in particular in the construction of the new Cathedral of Saint-Arnoux in Gap, between 1866 and 1904. When exposed to the elements, the surface of the limestone takes on a grey patina.

A harsh call sounds from the forest. A jay perhaps? No, a nutcracker, its cousin. With dark, white-spotted plumage, this bird's strong beak can break open hazelnuts (although not walnuts as suggested by its name in French, cassenoix (walnut breaker)) and in particular it can dissect Swiss pine cones in order to reach the pine nuts inside. It inhabits high forests. It buries Swiss pine nuts in the ground to store up food for the winter. When winter comes, it will find the pine nuts again even under a thick layer of snow. Those it forgets will germinate.

The biggest bird of the woodpecker family, its shape is perfectly adapted for life in the trees. It can easily be identified by its overall black colour with a bright red cap extending from the forehead to the back of the neck in the male, and just a red mark in the female. It lives in tree-covered areas, which it needs for its food and for its nesting method. It feeds mainly on ants and insects which it extracts by drilling into the back with its sharp beak.