Les Gourniers discovery path

11 points of interest

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  Fauna

  Carrion crow

  The carrion crow is a medium-sized corvid, slightly larger than the rook. It is easy to avoid confusing them, as the latter has a narrower, straight beak with a whitish base. Its plumage creates green reflections. The males and females are identical in appearance when young.
  
  
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  Flora

  Yellow gentian

  It is easy to see why this perennial plant, with a strong, hollow stem and which can grow up to one metre tall, is commonly called the great gentian. At the end of the stem, it carries several tiers of yellow flowers grouped into whorls, supported by a pair of large opposing leaves. This species can be told apart from others in the genus not only by its colour but also because the corolla is made up of five or six petals.
  
  
  
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  Flora

  Beech

  A majestic tree with a smooth, steel grey trunk. It has bright, shiny leaves which turn to russet in the autumn. The seeds, or beechnuts, are set into a small spiky woody shell. Here, the beech is growing at the limit of its distribution; they are at their highest in the Durance valley.
  
  
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  Flora

  Burnt-tip orchid

  Its name comes from the deep purple colour at the end of the flower spike. 10 to 30 cm tall, this orchid grows in sunny meadows, in limey soil. The flowers are small and arranged into a tight spike.
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  Flora

  Cupid's dart

  This 30 to 70 cm high plant has slender leaves, some linear with a few narrow side lobes. It is distinctive for its flower heads with parchment-like, translucent bracts and a broad russet median vein ending in a little point. The flowers are all ray-shaped and serrated at the tip. They are blue to purplish, darker at the base.
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  Flora

  Martagon lily

  The martagon lily is distinctive for its long upright flower spike. It bears 3 to 10 flowers which are violet-pink streaked with purple, out of which its long orangey stamens emerge. It’s better to admire it from a distance because, beautiful as it is, it has an unpleasant smell!
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  Geology and geography

  Giant’s cauldron

  The term ‘Giant’s cauldron’ describes a cavity created by a current of water in a standing rock. Here, the waters and the pebbles of the Chargès torrent whirl around polishing the cavity and giving it its spectacular shape. 

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  Fauna

  Brown trout

  This wild trout of the salmonid family is 25 to 100 cm long. Its streamlined body and well-developed fins make it a very efficient swimmer in fast-flowing water. The deepness of the colour on its back varies depending on the environment. Its back and sides are decorated with black dots outlined with pink.
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  Architecture

  Chapel of the Nativity

  It is difficult to be sure of the chapel's date of construction, but is existed in 1700. The bell was installed in 1870, but the bell tower was built in 1956. In 2013, a new larch shingle roof replaced the old corrugated iron roof, 
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  Architecture

  Hamlet of Les Gourniers

  The old houses of the hamlet are modest in appearance. They are built from stone and have sheet metal roofs. They used to be roofed with slate extracted from the nearby quarries
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  Vernacular heritage

  Communal oven

  This is located in the basement of the former school (now the Park Information Centre). It is regularly used on the occasion of local festivals and events.