La Marmotte

Here you are in Bourg-d'Oisans at an altitude of 700m: all around you are mountains and underfoot is the plain. This landscape has been shaped over thousands of years at the same time as the Alps were being created.The mountains you see, and the plain you walk on, are the consequences of shifting continents, the major ice ages and the subsequent warming. Humans have also helped shape this landscape over the last few centuries, adapting to and taking advantage of natural and geological constraints. The dammed rivers and the network of drainage canals, for example, have allowed the habitat to expand and agriculture to develop in the plain, creating a mountain "bocage" with fields and hedges. However, these actions have never eradicated certain natural hazards, such as avalanches and rockfalls. Half-wild and half-tamed, this landscape and its features are home to a multitude of animal and plant species, some of which are protected. Lake St Laurent: when the Vénéon-Romanche glacier retreated, it stagnated in the lower valley and a lake of more than 5,000 hectares then occupied the entire valley from Bourg-d'Oisans to Allemond. The alluvium deposited by the Romanche and the Vénéon gradually plugged up the lake and filled in the plain to a depth of 500m. In fact, if it weren't for the lake, which gradually filled in, the village would only be at an altitude of 200m! Bourg-d'Oisans is now a delightful little town of international renown where mountain lovers come, both in summer and winter, to stay and enjoy the many activities on offer!