Les Grands Goulets (French language: The Great Bottlenecks) is a gorge in the western part of the Vercors Massif, located in the department of Drôme in Southeastern France. The gorge forms the head of the Vernaison Valley.
Between 1844 and 1851, the Grands-Goulets Road (Route Départementale RD 518) was constructed, a "balcony road" built into the sheer limestone cliffs of the gorge to link the Pont-en-Royans area to the Vercors plateau at Échevis. The single-track road has numerous tunnels and few passing-places and was formerly popular with tourists.[1]
During the Second World War, the plateau became a stronghold of a French Resistance group called the Maquis du Vercors. On 22 January 1944, a column of 300 German troops arrived at the Grands Goulets on a punitive expedition. A small force of Maquisards attempted to block their progress but were either outgunned or outflanked by Gebirgsjäger Alpine troops at each blocking position that they established. When the coloumn reached Échevis, they burned the village in retaliation for the ambush of a German staff car a few days earlier.[2] A plaque at La Chapelle-en-Vercors commemorates the twenty Maquisards who were killed in the fighting.[3] The damaged road was later repaired and reopened in September 1945.[4]
The 2008 Grands Goulets Tunnel.
After rockfalls in 2000 and 2005, the road was permanently closed to vehicles and pedestrians. A replacement road tunnel, 1,710 metres (5,610 ft) long and 7 metres (23 ft) wide was constructed, costing €50 million; it opened in 2008.[5] A scheme to reopen the top 200 metres (660 ft) of the road to pedestrians as a tourist attraction was proposed by local authorities in 2016.[6]
The Grands Goulets are classified as a ZNIEFF or Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique (Natural zone of ecological interest, fauna and flora).[7]
^"Les Grands-Goulets, a balcony road in France". www.dangerousroads.org. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^Ashdown, Paddy (2015). The Cruel Victory: The French Resistance, D-Day and the Battle for the Vercors 1944. London: William Collins. p. 97. ISBN 978-0007520817.
^Coustaury, Alain (July 2006). "PLAQUES AUX BARRAQUES-EN-VERCORS". museedelaresistanceenligne.org (in French). Fondation de la Résistance (Département AERI). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^Ashdown 2015, p. 365
^"Grands Goulets Tunnel Breaks Through in Gorges of Vercors". tunnelbuilder.com. Tunnelbuilder Limited. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^Gotschaux, Florence (27 January 2016). "La route des Grands Goulets pourrait rouvrir partiellement". www.francebleu.fr (in French). France Bleu / Radio France. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^"La Vernaison de Rousset aux Grands-Goulets - ZNIEFF* de type I" (PDF). carmen.naturefrance.fr (in French). Ministère de l’Environnement. 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
Les GrandsGoulets (French language: The Great Bottlenecks) is a gorge in the western part of the Vercors Massif, located in the department of Drôme in...
wounded. On 22 January 1944, a column of 300 German troops arrived at the GrandsGoulets gorge on a punitive expedition in retaliation for the ambush of a German...
as Messageries nationales, initially for service to the Middle East. GrandsGoulets road completed The Charles Heidsieck champagne house is established...
Lorrain Helen Goulet (August 17, 1925 – December 17, 2021) was an American sculptor and painter, known primarily for her direct carving of stone and wood...
Gould poet I see my love more clearly from a distance, Selah George R. D. Goulet 1933 historian The Trial of Louis Riel: Justice and Mercy Denied, The Métis:...
The Goulet de Brest (French pronunciation: [ɡulɛ də bʁɛst]) is a 3-km-long strait linking the roadstead of Brest to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 1.8 km wide...
sought freedom by escaping to the British during the Revolutionary War." Goulet, L.; and Tsaltas-Otoomanelli, Mary. "Black Loyalists In The Evacuation Of...
Nathalie Goulet (born 24 May 1958) is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Orne department. She is a member of the Union of Democrats and...
Fischer, Dr. Patrice Fischer, Dr. Steve Galiley, Dr. Ray Gannon, Dr. Henri Goulet, Dr. Ihab Griess, Dr. David Harris, Dr. Stanley Horton, Dr. Daniel Juster...
spent six years in Formula One racing for Scuderia Ferrari, winning six Grands Prix and earning widespread acclaim for his performances. An enthusiast...
crossed their field of fire with those at Tremet, as well as covering the goulet de Brest to harry an approaching enemy. The Germans built a platform for...
Gagné Ricky Gervais Ryan Gosling Catherine Goulet George R. D. Goulet Tag Goulet Nicolette Goulet Robert Goulet James Haven Camille Henry Derek Hough Julianne...
Kings John of England and Philip II of France, sign a peace treaty at Le Goulet, an island in the middle of the Seine River, near Vernon in Normandy. The...
Camelot, along with Richard Burton (as King Arthur) and newcomer Robert Goulet. Andrews called the work "monumental" due to the heavy set costuming and...
Jamie Lee Curtis; as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rich Little and Vera Goulet. Investor Kirk Kerkorian, actor Kirk Douglas, and singer Phyllis McGuire...
franchise was in Quebec – J. C. Tremblay's No. 3, Marc Tardif's No. 8, Michel Goulet's No. 16 and Peter Stastny's No. 26 – were entered back into circulation...
cirque of the Combe Laval, and the Échevis valley, including the Grands and the Petits Goulets. The Gervanne, in the south-west, is a rugged area of hills...
Global Information
