Hautes-Alpes mountain resort
Stage city for the first time.
Population: 910 (Dévoluards)
Specialities: Dévoluy lamb, tourtons, gratin dauphinois, tarte des Alpes. Ewe's milk cheeses, herbal teas, beer.
Personalities: Henry Bernard (resort architect, 1st Rome Grand Prix), Laurent Artufel (actor), Jeanne Bertrand (photographer), Jean Couzy (mountaineer), Anne-Marie Peysson (television presenter), Cyprien Sarrazin (alpine skier).
Sport: downhill skiing (100 km of marked runs). Snowboarding, Nordic skiing, ski touring. 3,000 m2 sports centre. Competitions: stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2016. Dévoluy winter rally.
Economy: agriculture (sheep farming), mountain tourism (Superdévoluy and La Joue du Loup form the Dévoluy ski area). Local shops. Restaurants and bars.
Festivals: Musique en Dévoluy (August) / Festival de l'image / Fête de la Brebis (sheep festival).
Labels: Famille Plus
Website and social networks: https://www.ledevoluy.com / https://www.mairiedevoluy.com/ / https://www.hautes-alpes.fr/
SUPERDÉVOLUY AND CYCLING
SuperDévoluy has been hoping to host the Grande Boucle for a long time, and now it has succeeded. In 2016, the resort in the Southern Alps hosted the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné and gave two British riders a chance to shine: Stephen Cummings, who won the stage solo after escaping on the Cols de Moissière and du Noyer, and Chris Froome, who was crowned overall winner for the third time. Back in 2013, Froome won an edition in which the queen stage, won by Samuel Sanchez, finished in SuperDévoluy.
SIGHTS:
- Mother Church
Construction: 11th and 12th centuries.
Style: Romanesque.
Characteristics: known as the "Mother Church", this small church, whose date of construction is unknown, as is the origin of its nickname, comprises a three-bay nave with round arches and a semi-circular apse, flanked by a side chapel topped by the bell tower and extended by an apse. The building, which has been modified several times, was abandoned for a long time. It was restored at the instigation of a local association and with the support of the commune.
Special feature: mountaineer René Demaison is buried in the churchyard. A statue of him stands in the village, at the foot of Pic de Bure, which he was one of the first to climb.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1927.
- Bois d’Aurouze
Construction: 1967 to 1972.
History: in the mid-1960s, the commune of Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy wanted to develop tourism and create a winter sports resort. The project aimed to attract a popular southern clientele to an "integrated resort". Henry Bernard (1912-1994, First Grand Prix de Rome and architect of the Maison de la Radio in Paris), in association with Maurice Fournier, designed the master plan: they built the Bois d'Aurouze residence between 1967 and 1972, then the Issarts residence between 1975 and 1977. To give skiers direct access to the slopes from their homes, the resort was designed around a continuous snow front, along which the buildings were built. Completed in 1977, this large snow complex has 1,083 studios, a third of which are marketed as timeshares (a first in France).
Characteristics: block building 200-metres long, with 56 bays 3.50 metres wide and 12 to 14 levels, the Bois d'Aurouze residence includes all the facilities needed to run the resort. On each level, the studios are accessed from either side of a central corridor. An ingenious layout reduces the surface area of the "living cells" to a strict minimum, from 23 to 31 m² for 4 people. This "snow liner" meets the modern demand for an all-inclusive holiday. Holidaymakers leave their cars at the entrance to the resort: they can get around on foot within the small confines of the residence, and on skis in the infinite space of the ski area.
Listed as: 20th century heritage (2015).
- Observatory
The NOEMA antennas form IRAM's millimetre radio astronomy observatory. These 12 antennae, each 15 metres in diameter, form the most powerful radio telescope in the northern hemisphere, using interferometry. It is located on the Bure plateau, at an altitude of 2,552m. The observatory cannot be visited, and access requires knowledge of the mountains and good physical fitness (there are no roads).
- The via souterrata de la Tune
An underground via ferrata: for almost an hour, explore a cave by headlamp, in the damp and at an average temperature of 10 degrees. Progress in true Indiana Jones style, taking small steps and crossing a monkey bridge and a footbridge with the help of rungs. You must be accompanied by a guide.
DRINK:
- Craft beers
Christophe Wang, a former trainer in the French Air Force, and François Lefebvre, a native of the Beaujolais region, both came to Dévoluy to create their own craft beer, Bure for the former and Brasserie Interstellaire du Dévoluy for the latter. Christophe, who wanted to rediscover the taste of the British beers he loves, offers a lager and an amber, as well as a special beer brewed each month (white, IPA, Christmas beer). Under evocative names such as La Ferrata, La Filante and La Flèche, François brews lagers and amber ales made entirely with water from Dévoluy.
