The most beautiful natural sites to discover France

A massive 200 ha forest in Talloires offers a splendid view of Lake Annecy. The 69 ha of the natural reserve have a special flora, a mixture of mountain and Mediterranean species and a typical forest fauna rich in amphibians, reptiles and butterflies. Traces tell us the story of Roc de Chère: quarry of sandstone, land extraction areas and the life of the monks of Talloires (exploitation of forest and vines.)

These two natural monuments are part of the wonders of the Alabaster coast between Etretat and Benouville. The Belval needle, with its match-like look in the middle of nowhere, is like an adventurer who would go out to sea and would have stayed there, facing the sight of the sea, without wanting to go back. 70 m of chalk that you can't reach on foot. Further on, Roc Vaudieu is more like a section of wall forming, with the Porte d'Amont in Etretat, a cove where the currents turn in circles. These two beauties can be admired from afar. Even at low tide, by taking the precaution of walking on the foreshore as far as possible from the cliff, the risk of scree is never to be neglected, not to mention the tides that can trap unwary people. Nevertheless, we go to the beach, using the Fonds d'Etigue, 800 m after Bénouville (rue des Terriens), at the end of which is a car park that can accommodate a few vehicles. From there, a small valleuse allows you to get down to the shore where you can walk forward, very far from the cliff face.

The Maison de la Réserve is the starting point for guided tours organised by the Maison de l'Estuaire, an association that manages the national nature reserve of the Estuaire de la Seine. The reserve covers 8,528 hectares. Five trails are accessible without a guide, including one from the Normandy bridge and another after the Hode road in Saint-Vigor-d'Ymonville. It is advisable to bring good hiking boots or even boots. Well-received storks have established their habitat here. This reserve is to be discovered and supported. It is to be hoped that soon a shuttle system will be in place to allow non-vehicle passengers to travel to the Reserve House.

These landscapes inspired her to write Claudine à L'Ecole:

"I have lived in these woods for ten years of wandering, conquest and discovery; the day I have to leave them I will be deeply saddened"

In the heart of the Puisaye, a region often described as a natural setting, lies the Boutissaint Nature Park.
400 hectares of forest, offering a wide variety of forest species with century-old oaks, such as the Saint Louis oak, which has a circumference of more than four metres, Douglas, spruce, beech, cherry, chestnut, chestnut... Finally, near the wash house, the Bald cypress, a rustic tree with light, deciduous foliage. Its leaves, arranged in spirals around the twig, turn brick-red to brown in late autumn, offering a grandiose and long-lasting spectacle. Its unusual feature among conifers is that it loses its leaves in winter, hence its name "bald". Hinds, large deer, fallow deer, wild boar and other inhabitants of these places evolve in complete freedom in this preserved environment and revel in the abundant food that has fallen from the trees...

ON

FOOT OR BY BIKE

A true living museum of the forest, the Parc Naturel de Boutissaint offers the discovery of the fauna, which once inhabited our regions, in its natural element. The Park has preserved the wild character of the forests of Puisaye. It covers an area of 400 hectares where nearly 500 animals live in the wild or in enclosures for some of them: - in the wild: deer, hinds, fawns, fallow deer and doe, roe deer. - in enclosures: wild boar, deer, hinds, mouflons and bison.walkers who do not have the patience or time to lurk to observe the animals living in the wild, will be able to see them moving around in their enclosures, as well as in a vast open meadow near the Château's pond, where some animals gather, thus offering themselves to the public's view, while remaining at a respectable distance.

Paths, alleys and layons criss-cross the woods and allow you to go deep into the forest, to discover the fountains and ponds of the Park or to listen to the roar of the deer in September and October.

The lacets road connecting Saint-Claude to Septmoncel allows to admire a geological fold, of which the form so special, recalls a bicorne, the emblematic couvre couvre napoleonic napoleonic. This natural curiosity, on which a waterfall is formed in rainy times, is visible on your left, when you climb towards Septmoncel. A small car park is set up on your right, facing the Chapeau de Gendarme, to allow you to observe it more closely. For sportsmen, nature lovers or those whose stomach does not appreciate lacets turns, it is possible to access them by following a hiking circuit from Saint-Claude or Septmoncel (duration: from 1 h to 6 h 30 depending on the course chosen). On your way you can also discover the waterfalls of the.

Promenons us in the woods… It borders the city on the north-west side and extends from its proud trees to 1 673 ha. Complete health course, area of attraction of the Main Barracks (parking, shelters, playgrounds, hiking trails) and a zoo area (a water point, nest park…) are all guarantees of change and green. Finally, on the roads, or on the stone roads, offer a forest trip about 1 h 15, in the heart of the Massif forest, every Sunday, starting from the Main barracks.

On RD 954, at the limits of the departments of the Hautes-Alpes and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Naturist beaches on the shores of the lake. A dredge the day near the plane club.

Looking for fresh air? Head for the Louroux pond, one of the largest in the region but also one of the most interesting. Classified as a sensitive natural area, many birds make their nests there. An ornithological observatory has been created to observe coots and grebes. As for the flora, two nationally protected species, the gratiola and the buttercup, grow on the site. A walk of about 5 km (2 hours) around the lake is not to be missed. Angling is permitted on the dike.

Before leaving Chilhac, the geology fans will stop a few kilometers from the village, near Peyre, towards Chambon. A few hundred metres during the road, the road runs through imposing basaltic casting from strombolien-type volcanoes located above: the king's peak and the peak of Ponnet. In some places, the erosion of the Allier caused the fall of lava pillars that were dissociated from the wall. See if you are in the vicinity.