Autumn Holiday and Elective General Assembly at Autrans (Isère), 10 to 12 October 2025

Enrico Alberini, Jean Luc Matte, Christophe Badonnel and the IT group have contributed to this page presenting the Autumn Holiday and GA.

Closing date for bookings is 10 August 2025

The 2025 Autumn Holiday will take place from 10 to 12 October 2025 in the Isère departement. The rides have been created and reconned by Alain Benoist and Philippe Imbert.
We will be staying in the “Escandille” holiday village.

Presentation of the region

Autrans-Méaudres en Vercors is a new commune, born of the fusion of the villages of Autrans and Méaudre on the 1st January 2016. It had about 3000 inhabitants in 2023.

Autrans-Méaudres en Vercors is a new commune, born of the fusion of the villages of Autrans and Méaudre on the 1st January 2016. It had about 3000 inhabitants in 2023.

Situated in the Isère, a part of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, the commune lies at the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional du Vercors and of the Communauté de Communes du Massif du Vercors.

Autrans-Méaudre en Vercors offers a wide range of sporting and family activities.

Created in 1970, the Parc naturel régional du Vercors is situated in the Région Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, this medium mountain territory extends over a vast massif of 227 621 ha between Drôme and Isère and includes 98 communes spread across several natural regions : the Piémont nord, the Quatre-Montagnes, the Coulmes, the Diois, the Vercors Drômois, the Royans, the Trièves, the Gervanne, Raye and Monts du Matin, Pays de Saillans.

The Vercors contains a great variety of ecosystems, conditions favourable to the development and maintenance of a fine biodiversity : creatures of the “high” mountains (snow vole, mountain vole…) and of cliffs (wallcreeper, ibex, vultures…) ; species with southern affinities (cicada, red partridge…) and species that are « glacial relics» (mountain hare, black grouse, rock ptarmigan, pygmy owl …).

The massif welcomes an exceptionally diverse range of animal species  whose distribution across Europe is often limited and many of which are protected.

. 72 mammal species including 29 bat species (amongst the 36 listed in France), 6 wild ungulates (deer, mouflon, chamois, wild boar, roe deer, ibex), belettes, squirrels, marmots, wolves, foxes, lynx… 140 species of nesting birds including the golden eagle, the eagle owl and the black grouse, the emblem of the Parc… and 4 species of vultures. Le Vercors is also home to 25 species of reptiles and amphibians.

Plant species are just as diverse. Alpine flowers meet  lavender and dry orchid meadows, of which there are great numbers on the massif. On the same slopes in the  Diois, we can find edelweiss, the ‘symbol’ of the high mountains, as well as thyme, a typically Mediterranean species. All together, 1800 plant species including 85 that are protected (lady’s slipper, bear’s ear primrose, wild tulip…), 79 species of orchids (including Spitzel or coral root), wild tulip, Haller’s pasque flower, elegant goldenrod, club moss, columbine, martagon lily.

…

The Vercors has also inherited a very long human history  that has shaped it over the centuries. The first human traces on the ground are due to agriculture. If it had never been inhabited, the Vercors would be completely forested.

In fact, apart from cliffs and some very steep slopes, human beings have transformed nature to form the countryside that we see today. Shepherds and famers have created a mosaic of fields and pastures, while woodcutters and charcoal burners have modified the composition of the forests…

By opening tracks in the dense forest cover, and in keeping them open, farmers still have a large effect on the landscape of the massif.

Sitting at the transition between the northern Alps and the southern Alps, the Vercors is subject to the triple influences of climate and altitude, oceanic precipitation and mediterranean systems.

Thse influences, visible as much in precipitations as in temperatures, make of the Vercors a unique prealpine massif and contribute largely to therichness of the environment and the species found on the ground.

Standing as an outpost of the French Alps, the Vercors presents a wide diversity of landscapes and reliefs permitting numerous activities, the Vercors can be enjoyed on foot, by bike, on horseback, on ropes, on snowshoes or on skis, even from a hang glider…

Throughout the ages, man and the Vercors have made connections that nourish the identity of a unique territory, a treasure trove of heritage sometimes discrete but always present and sometimes surprising…

By the way, natural rock shelter caves , the ruined vestiges of remote civilisations, corbelled roads made in the XIX^e century, monuments commemorating the Second World War witnessing a rich history, with strength for the future.

Two history museums at Vassieux-en-Vercors are run by the Parc du Vercors : the mémorial de la Résistance is a central stage of a route to discover, all through the massif, the places where the actions of the Résistance took place during the Second World War, and  the musée de la Préhistoire, installed on the site of a flint knapping  workshop abandoned 4500 years ago by artisan-stonecutters, exhibits around thirty years of archaeological research.

Numerous other placesshow different facets of history : the musée départemental de la Résistance à Vassieux-en-Vercors, the musée archéologique et historique du pays Dioisand from Diois to Die, the musée de l’eauat Pont-en-Royans…

Villard-de-Lans was the the third ski-station to appear in France, in1906 ; thecreatorsof the network ofGrandes Traversées du Vercorswere amongst thepioneers of roaming ; in 1956, a world recordwas set by a team of cavers whowent deeper than 1000 mètres (-1122m) at gouffre Berger ; since 2000, local entrepreneurshave been investing in questions relating tofood quality ; the planning of projects for village power supplyin the Vercors has soon identified them aspilotsites for the development of a new model of sustainable energy provision at the national level ; several entreprises propose cutting edge products or services like Paléotime for example ; within civil society,inhabitants continue to inventfor education, for mutuality, heritage value, the common good…

Bike tours

Parcours CCTOURS Autrans 2025

Accomodation

Near to the hilltop village of Autrans, at 1080maltitude,the holiday village Escandille lies at the heart of the parc naturel régional du Vercors. The village, surrounded by a wooded parkof 12 hectares, is the ideal placeto recharge your batterieswhere you’ll findnumerous relaxation facilitiesand manyorganised activities during your holiday.

Covered heated swimming pool, paddling pool, sauna, hammam, hot tub, fitness room will be available for you to fully enjoy your stay.

Parking of camping cars will be allowed at the holiday village for 7 euros per day.

Bookings

Download the booking form

Closing date for bookings is 10 August 2025

Other activities or visits

Some ideas for visits :