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

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It is the responsibility of a guidebook writer to ensure that his or her work will not result in a mass assault on a previously unspoilt area, changing its character forever. But the Queyras can well cope with a doubling, trebling or even quadrupling of the number of British walkers to its high mountains and valleys. I wish to share this wonderland, and, tired of giving gentle encouragement to others to visit the region, want instead to shout from the highest summits: ‘Go, go, go to the Queyras!’ You will surely not be disappointed, and perhaps a few of you will fall deeply and everlastingly under the spell of this remarkable and enchanting land.

Alan Castle, 2008

View of the ridge on the Pic Ouest (Stage 10)

INTRODUCTION

The French Alps

The French Alps stretch for some 403km (250 miles), from Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south, in the vicinity of Nice and Menton. They form a natural frontier with Italy to the east and Switzerland to the north. The weather tends to be warmer and more stable than in the Swiss and Austrian Alps.