|
 |
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, but plenty of comfortable
hotels. No huge holiday centers, just one family center and a few
lodges. 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.
The area is officially made up of two communities:
La Grave, perched at 1525 meters on a rocky slope which extends
down to the Romanche river. It is surrounded by five smaller villages:
Les Fréaux, Le Chazelet, Les Terrasses, Ventelon and Les
Hières.
Villar d'Arène is located higher up at 1650 meters and is
the last village before you reach the Lautaret Pass and the Briançon
side of the Hautes Alpes area. Two other villages cluster near the
massive houses of the main village: Les Cours and Le Pied du Col.
Higher in altitude you will find two types of habitat that are temporarily
occupied: around 1800-1900 meters several chalets grouped together
are inhabited from spring through autumn, and even higher up are
a few traditional shepherds' summer chalets. The area offers a total
of approximately 2500 beds, with 1 hotel-residence (***), 16 hotels
(-, *, **, ***), 1 family center, 8 lodges, 3 group lodges, and
155 furnished rentals (from studios to actual houses). |
