​​​ Lost Paradises Travels - Europe  

​FRANCE - Alps - Chartreuse

The Chartreuse Massif, designated in 1995 as the Parc Naturel Régional de Chartreuse, stretches north from Grenoble towards Chambéry and, like Vercors, is not easy to visit without your own vehicle. The landscape, however, is spectacular, and very different to that of the Vercors: precipitous limestone peaks, mountain pastures and thick forest.The main local landmark is the Grande Chartreuse monastery, situated up the narrow Gorges des Guiers Mort, southeast of St-Laurent-du-Pont, and some 35km from Grenoble, one of nineteen Carthusian monasteries still functioning worldwide.