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the Drôme
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Landscape
and nature
The
department of
the Drôme, in between Lyon and the
Provence, takes its name from the
Drôme river,
a 110 km long river in southeastern
France, left tributary of the Rhône River. Its
source is in the western foothills of the Alps, near
the village Valdrôme. It flows into the Rhône near
Loriol-sur-Drôme, between
Valence and
Montélimar.
Striking in the landscape are the huge differences
in heights, ranging from 60m until 2400m. This leads
to the merging of the Mediterranean and subalpine
climats and an enormous diversity of fauna and flora.Discover
the splendours of the landscape inits colors and
fragrances: from mid-june until the end of august
the fields are covered with the deep purple of the
lavender and the light green of the wineries, the
yellow of the sunflowes and the silver of the olive
trees.
The virgin forests of Saou extend over 13 km and
2500 hectares from the steep mountains of the Roche
Colombe (886m) and the Trois Becs (1589m). It is a
spectacular example of a geological fold formed by
steep mountaintops and covered by a dense forest of
white oaks, pines, beeches and cedars. The woods are
inhabited by chamois, boars, stone martens, weasels,
marmots and large birds of prey as the royal eagle. |
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Culture
In this
department you can find a lot of medieval villages,
that are built against the hills, like Venterol,
Mirmande, Le Poët-Laval and La Garde Adhémar, where
a lot of artists settled in over the years. |
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In the
summer there are a lot of events everywhere, like
the
Mozartfestival of Saou, the
Jazzfestival in Crest, the medieval feast in
Bourdeaux, open air concerts, open air cinema's, the
Picodonfestival in Saou, antique and fleemarkets,
pottery-markets in Dieulefit etc. etc.. The
atmosphere of the Provence, but much more quiet.... |
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Do you
like sportive holidays?
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Then also your needs can
be amply fulfilled. Among other possibilities in the
protected natural monument of the Saou forest, where
there have been labelised a large amount of
trails
(example) on
horseback, walking, for mountaineers, or by bike or
mountainbike. Paragliding in a tandem gives you the
unique view of the geological formation of the Foret de
Saou from above. |
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On the river
Drôme
you can canoe and in spring and autumn even raft.
The smaller rivers the Roubion and the Vèbre invite you
to bathe or even swim in the free beautiful nature. |
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Culinary
The wines from the
Rhône-valley (like the Grands Crus de l'Hermitage),
the Clairette de Die from the Drôme-valley, the truffles from
Tricastin, the Nougat from Montélimar, the chocolate from
Tain-l'Hermitage, the Picodon goatcheese, the Raviolis from Royans
and the olives from Nyons: culinary the Drôme has a lot to offer
too.
The restaurants in the neighbourhood have specialised in these
delights and are very creative with the Provencal kitchen too.
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