Tuesday, October 05, 2004
La Grave- La Meije
On Friday evening I went and meet Narashima to ping him to know about week-end plan. I was staying late from office as there was some activities to be completed before the week comes to an end.
Then we got to know we could go to this place called Le Grave. On Saturday we had nice food at home and went to the railway station to enquire as to how to reach La Grave. We got to hear that we should be able to reach there by bus. So the next day we where all set to go there.
As soon as we landed there we discovered that this place is a unique resort offering wilderness skiing and breath-taking slopes.
La Grave - La Meije is one of the world’s great skiing places and one you just cannot miss. For years, the sheer beauty of the place, the quality of the snow and the off-piste ski area have attracted people in the know from all over the world. We didn’t go there to Ski …we just wanted to see the glacier. We where banking on the La Meije Glaciers Aerial Tramway (Téléphérique) provides the sole access to this high altitude glacial terrain, and carries passengers to the Ruillans Pass at 3200 meters in 30 minutes. But we got the information that its close in autumn.
So we just went around and got the information as to how to go there. To our surprise we came to know it would take some good 3-4 hrs by walk to reach to the peak to see the glazier.
So a walk in the town reveals here you won't find any wooden chalets. The rarity of wood as well as some spectacular fires in the past centuries have discouraged the local population from building with wood. Traditional architecture in the La Meije area is exclusively stone.
Blocks of tuff (a volcanic rock) or shale are sealed together with an earth-based mortar. Rooftops are two-sided and covered with slate or flagstones, here again for fire protection. Houses are built on the natural rock foundation and set into the hillside in a cascading terrace formation. Numerous traditional passageways called "trabuc" link the houses together to create a tight network that visitors often lose themselves in.
Here there are no luxury accommodations. Its not a huge holiday centers. No ugly clusters of lift structures invading the landscape, only the La Meije Glaciers Aerial Tramway and a few drag lifts. No shopping center, just a few traditional shops.
The La Meije community does not experience the huge tourist invasions common to conventional resorts, and the population varies only slightly throughout the year. There are just over 600 inhabitants, made up of both locals and former French and foreign vacationers who fell in love with the site and settled there permanently. Although the La Meije area draws its resources today mainly from tourism, it has never sold its soul, and proudly preserves its authenticity.
So we just started our trek at around 11.30 am and reach the 1840 meters by 1.30pm. U can find a picture of mine taken there. So we just spent a little time there and decided to come down. On the way in the near some place where there was a lot of Blocks of tuff we sat there and had our lunch. There after once we where about to reach the village we took a break near the place and enjoyed playing in the cold water. Missed taking picture in both the places.
The best thing of the entire trip was we were listening to the some devotional songs while we were going in the bus. Oh what a combination…In the Alps with the songs ..it was a very nice thing. As we got down we forgot to collect the cassettes. Narasmiha was saying if we are destined to get it we will get it. So on the way back we got into the same bus and the cassettes were there. It was really a lucky trip.
Check for the picture here
