The most beautiful natural sites to discover France

La Chaîne des Heaps proposes to discover, with a guide, this site rooted between past and future through various activities: heaps tours, thematic outputs - discovery of wildlife and flora - sartharion outings on dumps, bus tours to the discovery of built heritage, educational activities with schools, hiking, mountain biking, mountain biking, etc…. Chain of Heaps, centre for Environmental training and information, owns l approval of the DRTEFP (Regional Directorate of Labour and Vocational training) and offers training courses for students, employees of the public or private, for job seekers, persons in professional insertion and even for the general public…. They offer everyone the opportunity to acquire skills in the field of environmental education, or the management and protection of natural spaces.

By the D 559, between La Ciotat and Les Ever. The road runs along the railway line. The beach is well attended by a gay, but also a free, public.

Attendance tolerated on the beach of Domaine du Marquenterre, north of Saint-Quentin point - Les Pins Beach and Crotoy beach.

This site is very popular with tourists, fishermen, hikers and other nature lovers. A 10 km circuit offers a nice walk through vineyards and villages. Lovers of old stones will still discover old houses at the staircases characteristic of our villages on the edge of the Sèvre. The place is pleasant and offers a point of view on the castle of Frémoire, whose silhouette is detached on the meadow overlooking the Sèvre. Do not forget his race track where every year, the last weekend of August, take the horse races of Vertou.

Plage Bleue is located on the peninsula of Cassis, in a creek just before the rocky inlet of Port-Miou. It is adjoining the gastronomic restaurant La Presqu'île, as well as a more affordable restaurant for tighter budgets. The view is wonderful from the terraces. Solarium, mattress and swimming pool for children are reserved for guests. For those who love swimming in the sea, it is possible, but access to the water is difficult. Here, no sand beach but large flat rocks on which it is possible to lie down. Those who are more daring can jump into the water from different rocks. The ascent is adventuresome, which is why it is essential to have bathing shoes.

Official authorization since June 10, 1973. On the part from the Marseillan buvet to the channel of the port of the naturist village. Frequent presence of the Cape d 'Agde Naturist Club.

The nudity is of course permitted and practiced at 100% on the long beach bordering the Naturist Quarter and Camping Oltra. All this beach is very busy in the summer and we have to arrive early if you want a place on the waterfront to enjoy the freshness of the sea. However, the water is often very cold at the Cape d 'Agde - between 16 ° C and 19 ° C in the summer - which discourages some from swimming. As for the authenticity of the naturism practiced, it reflects the visitation of Cape Town: very varied, fortunately, monitored by Crs. The part between the port entrance and the end of the Heliopolis building is relatively correct, but the CRS ensure the grain. The part facing Camping Oltra and especially frequented by camping residents is probably the best naturist atmosphere.

The lake of Malaguet, private property of the Rollet family, is situated at 1 025 metres above sea level, at the limit of Auvergne and Du, in the heart of Livradois-Forez Regional Natural Park. A dam built downstream on the western point is the origin of this 22 hectare water plan. The lake of Malaguet is characterized by its exceptional site, set in a landscape of forests and meadows, away from the residential areas and traffic axes. It offers a wild and preserved nature, conducive to the practice of fly fishing and relaxation.

The natural and cultural heritage of the Chartreuse is particularly rich. Shared between Isère and Savoie, the Chartreuse Regional Nature Park, created in 1995, offers fantastic landscapes that are easy to discover. From the limestone mountains with their magnificent perched synclines to the cradle of the Carthusian order founded by Saint Bruno in the ^11th century, it's hard not to be fascinated by this massif. The Chartreuse is all about the water that sings in the many basins in each of the small villages scattered across the mountain, or the water that gushes in cascades and then rumbles in the ravines of the Guiers Mort and Guiers Vif. There are also beautiful forests and the scent of wood cut in sawmills. In fact, Chartreuse wood, used in construction, has been awarded the AOC label. It is produced from fir and spruce trees grown in the Chartreuse mountains. The Chartreuse Regional Nature Park is also home to a few morels lurking on the banks of a shady stream, a sabot-de-vénus lurking at the bend in a path or a black grouse chuckling as it flees the hustle and bustle of hikers. Chartreuse is not for eating: it's for savoring.

Bordered to the south by the cluse de Grenoble and to the north by the cluse de Chambéry, the Chartreuse appears like another limestone fortress. It offers hikers a number of peaks that exceed 2,000 m in altitude, the highest being Chamechaude at 2,082 meters. It is recognizable by its molar-like appearance, and is sometimes nicknamed "Gargantua's tooth". The Chartreuse also boasts a number of caves and galleries, popular with speleologists. In one of these caves, La Balme à Collomb, a little-known historical treasure has been discovered: a natural cave bear cemetery, over 20,000 years old! To date, 10% of the site has been excavated, and 12,000 bones or bone fragments have been found. The remaining areas have been left open to researchers. Of course, it's not possible to visit the original cave, but a reconstruction of the site provides a fascinating insight into the subterranean world where cave bears reigned supreme. It's hardly surprising that, with such an exceptional environment in terms of flora and fauna, the whole massif has the status of Regional Nature Park. This exceptional biodiversity is due in no small part to the great diversity of natural environments found in the massif. Its mountain forests, made up mainly of beech and spruce, are home to deer, chamois, lynx and owls, while its mountain meadows are home to numerous insects such as butterflies and beetles that thrive on the grasslands.

The Chartreuse, which Stendhal dubbed "the Emerald of the Alps", is a necklace whose every pearl must be admired. At its heart, the cirque de Saint-Même is one of the highest points in the Entremonts. The Cirque de Saint-Même is wild and unspoilt, offering a unique experience of nature, crowned by sheer rock faces and the sound of the wind running through the tall trees. Several hiking possibilities on site. At the heart of the cirque, right on the cliffs, the waters of the Guiers Vif escape from the bowels of the Earth and tumble down in a succession of great waterfalls. The most impressive of the passages leading over the cliffs to the upper plateaus is the Pas de la Mort, with its evocative name and long, overhanging ledge. It's the ideal place to hear the heartbeat of the Chartreuse! Another gem is the Grottes de Saint-Christophe (or Grottes des Échelles). These two caves, reached via a natural route, are home to thousand-year-old limestone rocks sculpted by water over time. The visit lasts an hour and a half. For the full experience, you can also try your hand at caving (from age 6) or acrospeleology (from age 12) in this unique setting.

And if you're looking for a bit of height, the Chartreuse also offers some breathtaking lookouts, such as the Sangles lookout overlooking the Guiers Mort gorges and the Grande Chartreuse monastery. But the most impressive viewpoint is undoubtedly at the end of the Petites Roches plateau, on the eastern face of the massif. This is a veritable balcony-belvedere, overlooking the Isère valley upstream from Grenoble by 800 m, and itself dominated by the cliffs of the Dent de Crolles and its northern extensions by 1,000 m. Today, the Plateau des Petites Roches is a world-famous venue for hang-gliding enthusiasts. Every September, the Coupe Icare brings the sport's greatest champions to Saint-Hilaire. It's another way of seeing the Alps, as you glide gently over them on the wings of the wind, like one of those majestic birds above the Chartreuse. The Chartreuse Regional Nature Park offers a wide range of sporting activities. In summer, take advantage of the many signposted trails to discover the richness of the forests, cliffs and reliefs on foot. In winter, put on your snowshoes or skis and head for the ski resort of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse.

Water Mother is a little frequented stream that descends from the Monts Mountains, where it winds in very wooded gorges. Downstream of Sauxillanges, the river widens to 5 m, and flows lazily in the middle of the meadows, alternating with smooth lengths lined with roots, with little little currents. Its bed, covered with sand and gravel, is often bordered by large trees, which can make the practice of fly fishing delicate. Upstream of Sauxillanges, where the river is bordered with conifers, trout are numerous but often small. On this route, on the contrary, trees leave the place to pasture and trout, whose density remains important, reaches more interesting dimensions. This very rich water also houses a good wall population, while the chevesnes are only starting to show up from Saint-Rémy-de-Charniat.

Take the road on the left at the exit of Saurier - previously if you wish to climb at the peak of Brionnet, see its chapel and its basaltic organs. Gradually the valley tightened, the Couze is even more savage, faster, the aulnes on its course, the beech that climbing the mountain leaves this and there beautiful granitic pointements. The forced driving that runs above the bed of the river by following the road gâche the site somewhat, especially in autumn, when these gorges are the most beautiful. In Courgoul you could have a stop to seeing the return of young people to the pailhats, these walls which retain thin strips of land, called elsewhere bancels or faïsses and which allowed hard work to maintain a small living mixed polyculture and thereby the maintenance on the ground of the people. From the Valbeleix we are now rolling on the casting of the Mont-Cineyre volcano - splendid lake at the foot of the volcano with its black lapilli beaches - access takes place after Compains where we end our getaway. Possible return by Besse in Chandesse for a substantially identical kilometre is just under 40 km.

A few steps from the railway, on the road to Rémalard. 14,30 meters of circumference at the foot. This large oak would have replaced a millénaire oak. He has a legend. He was reportedly planted by a knight of Montireau, a pledge of fidelity to his fiancée. A virgin's statuette would have been filed in a hollow. The revolutionaries would have removed him from his cavity, a fungus would have pushed it and would have taken the form of the virgin.

It is a well-known reserve for ornithologists. The walker heron, a bird of Africa, nest there, while other migratory species are on call. With a range of 110 hectares, the lake is the largest expanse of water in Eure-et-Loir. A large number of palmipèdes, passereaux, wading… have been elected to the house. In winter, on the islands and marshes, we observe the tadorne of belson, the great pappus… With patience, one can discover the shy and tiny ringer crapaud toad, originating in the Evreux forest. For years, this very rare species has been installed in ponds. Since 1985, it has received special attention and is protected by the first French order to safeguard a amphibian.