Читать книгу Tour of the Queyras. The GR58 and GR541 in the French Alps онлайн

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The Queyras region itself lies to the southeast of the Écrins, in what is generally considered to be the northernmost part of the southern French Alps. Further south lies the newest of the French national parks, the Mercantour. Summers here tend to be hot and the mountains rather arid, as the Alps finally run out at the Côte d’Azur.

Today the major industry in the French Alps is tourism, and during the winter months skiing is an important source of income. There is still plenty of non-intensive farming, and forestry is also very much in evidence. Employment is also available in the hydroelectric industry and in the management of the national and regional parks.

Walkers on the ascent to the Col de Moussière (Stage 1)

The Queyras

The Queyras is a rather isolated region of the French Alps, situated in the eastern half of the département of the Hautes-Alpes, bordering Italy on three sides. Turin lies to the east in a wide valley at the foot of the Piedmont Alps. The Queyras lies within the old province of Dauphiné, having been part of France since 1349. (The correct pronunciation of Queyras is a little unclear. Remember that in French ‘qu’ is pronounced rather like a ‘k’. Locals often do not pronounce the ‘s’, whereas most French people who live outside the region pronounce the word with the final consonant.)