The Vercors Massif is a range consisting of rugged plateaux and mountains straddling the départements of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isère. The cliffs at the massif's eastern limit face the city of Grenoble. At the fringes of the massif, the Vercors regional park has four geographical areas. The Royans, the north-west foothills are the location of walnuts growing. Three valleys descend to the edge of the Royans: the Gorges de la Bourne, the cirque of the Combe Laval, and the Échevis valley, including the Petits and the Grands Goulets.
Built between 1844 and 1851, Les Grands Goulets Road is a superb route that links the Royans area to the Vercors Central. The road was cut in the cliff, and the sun never penetrates into the narrow pass, mossy and wet. The Vernaison falls down in waterfalls and the road stays hung along the cliff. After several tunnels, the road drive down in twists towards the valley of Echevis, then again tunnels and cliff road to cross the narrowing of the Petit Goulet.
This road is one of the most famous balcony roads in France. There is little room for error on these roads. The space between two mountains is unnerving at points and the road is often so narrow that squeezing past an oncoming car was a dangerous and time consuming ordeal. Often very steep and high up in the gorge, the road had no guardrails. The road was closed to vehicles and pedestrian in 2005, after a series of fatal accidents, and is bypassed by a tunnel.
About the stamps
The first stamp is one of the two designed by Pierrette Lambert and issued on October 24, 1994 to mark the Salon of stamps, which held between 15 and 24 October 1994 in floral park of Vincennes. The two stamps has the same face values (2.80 FRF).
• Parc floral de Paris
• Dahlias - It's on the postcard 2797
The second stamp is part of the series Liberté de Gandon d'après Delacroix, about which I wrote here.
The third stamp, designed by Georges Bétemps, was issued on October 6, 1986, with the occasion of the Centenary of Technical Education.
The last stamp is part of the series Regions of France, designed by Didier Bonin, and issued on 1975:
• Picardie
• Bourgogne - It's on the postcard 2797
• Pays de la Loire
• Auvergne
• Poitou-Charentes
• Nord Pas-de-Calais
References
Vercors Massif - Wikipedia
Les Grands-goulets road - Dangerous Roads
Sender: Aabbzzed Psoas
Sent from Sassenage (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes / France), on 30.09.2016
Hi! I like direct swaps and am much interested in postcards about countries and for the moment all concerning folklore(dances and dresses),all about readers, books. Iam also in Postcrossing as Carochinha. If you want postcards from Portugal, I live in Porto. Greetings.
ReplyDelete