* France - Vercors and Chartreuse

Arrive at Grenoble in time for lunch. Guided tour of the historical capital of the Dauphine region and its Bastille, a series of fortifications on the mountainside above the town, reached by the oldest cable car in France.  The panoramic views are exceptional. Dinner and overnight.Group trip .

Excursion with group  into the Vercors, along the Bourne Gorges and the Grands Goulets, against the breathtaking backdrop of the weather beaten limestone hills. We visit the Museum and the Memorial dedicated to the Resistance which retraces the dramatic history of the Vercors region during the Second World War, and highlights the main memorial sites. After lunch we visit the Choranche caves with their amazing "cathedral room" teeming with stalactites, each more slender than the next.  Dinner and overnight.

We board the little red train of the La Mure Railway Company, a line which served to transport coal from the mines of La Mure towards the Grenoble valley. The route is spectacular passing lakes and mountains and other wonders of nature.  Lunch, then on to the turquoises waters of lake Monteynard, and then Vizille and the Napoleonic Route.  The first rumblings that gave rise to the French Revolution took place in the region and we visit the castle that houses the museum dedicated to it. Dinner and overnight. Group trip.

We head towards the Chartreuse mountains with the group, birthplace of the austere order of Chartreux, which nowadays is spread across the globe.  We visit the Correrie, the monastic museum of the Grande Chartreuse. Then on to Voiron and the Chartreuse caves where the famous green liqueur is still distilled according to the monk's well kept secret recipe. Lunch.Group trip.