Holiday Day 22 – A Massive Drive

Today was a fantastic drive and a poignant history lesson. We left the cottage before 9am with a quick stop in Villedieu for coffee. We had run out so had to make do with water and croissant for breakfast. It was lovely driving weather as we left our Provencal idyll. The drive north was one of superlatives all the way. Firstly we drove through Nyons and along the gorges east of there. Then we turned north up a remote valley it really was La France Profond. The scenery gradually changed from the vine dominated Provence to a more rugged landscape with little or no agriculture. There were the odd very small villages but really the area was very isolated with no habitation and few cars.

After two hours we reached the town of Die, from there we turned north to the Vercors. We stopped in a charming little hamlet for coffee along with the majority of serious motorcyclists in Southern France. Then it was twenty kilometres of twisty climb onto the Vercors plateau. The view from the top of the climb was just amazing. It was to presage things to come.

We stopped just outside of Vassieux for a picnic. This area is really haunting. The Vercors is a plateau surrounded by mountains that in WW2 must have been very remote. It was a centre for the Maquis from 1943 onwards. In June of 1944 having received what they though was the mobilisation message from London on the BBC they rose up and declared and independent republic. The Maquis thought that the allies would support them, however what happened was that the German army brutally put down the rebellion. Most of the villages were razed to the ground and many of the inhabitants were slaughtered.

We tried to understand this more by visiting the memorial to the resistance; a modern museum built 20 years ago that also serves as a memorial to the conflict. It told the facts of the rebellion very effectively, but two things were very moving, the names of all of those who died written by children in lead plaques and then a remarkable belvedere that framed the whole area where the conflict had taken place. It was totally silent but you could see in front of you the small hamlets where each massacre had taken place.

Discussing this later we agreed that it was one of the great achievements of Europe that we should not take for granted that the major nations are now at peace despite these recent brutal conflicts. That is something that we should not throw away lightly.

We completed the day by driving through two fantastic gorges. On the Combe de Laval we were suspended 3000 feet above the gorge on a twisty narrow road. It was just awe inspiring. In the Gorges de Borne we climbed through an ever-constricting valley that seemed ready to crush us. Together with the earlier climb these were three of the most awe-inspiring drives that we have undertaken on this holiday.

And so finally to the small auberge where we are staying tonight. It is delightful with a very slow rustic dinner and lots to drink. It rounded off a perfect day.