On Route des Grandes Alpes®, you'll ride through vast stretches of wilderness, skirting and crossing parks. From your saddle, you may spot a chamois or ibex in the distance. A family of marmots may whistle as you pass! Or the immense wingspan of a bearded vulture may fly over you in the Bargy massif, on the Col de la Colombière road between Cluses and Le Grand Bornand. So you don't have to rely on luck alone, here are three places to visit to get to grips with the Alpine ecosystem.
Le Jardin Alpin du Mont Cenis (Savoie)
Overlooking Lake Mont Cenis, just below the Musée de la Pyramide. The botanical garden features a themed trail and guided tours, with over 250 species of Alpine-floor flowers, dazzling with color in season. The view of the lake and surrounding mountains is breathtaking. Nearby, don't miss Fort de Ronce, a magnificent site in Haute-Maurienne Vanoise, built by the Italians, but became French and Savoyard in 1947.
Le Jardin Alpin du Lautaret (Hautes-Alpes)
The Jardin Alpin du Lautaret is a unique botanical garden. Perched at an altitude of 2100 m, it is home to almost two thousand alpine plants from all over the world and a third of the French flora. This treasure trove of alpine botany is also a unit of Grenoble Alpes University and the CNRS. Here, we study the human impact on a particularly sensitive environment, including the marmots you're bound to see.
Parc Alpha (Alpes Maritimes)
Here, in the heart of the Mercantour National Park, three wolf packs live in semi-liberty: the Boréon pack, the Erps pack and the Pelago pack of white wolves. Discovering this emblematic animal, at the center of all Alpine passions, justifies just a few kilometers from Saint-Martin-Vésubie. As a bonus, you'll also see chamois...