Il Queyras Park is located in the France Occidental a few hours from Italy, Turin and Milan. Queyras is a secret that those who visit cannot wait to share with their loved ones, because discovering such a beautiful and authentic place is not something every day.
The Queyras Park is made up of four valleys and eight villages. In everything they live here 2500 people and there are 2500 chamois, so you can only imagine the scenic beauty of these valleys.
How to reach us
To get to the Queyras Park you can walk two roads in summer and spring, but only one winter. In winter the only way to go is what it comes from Guillestre. Arrived up to here, you can visit all the valleys but going forward you will encounter a dead end, because everything is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. In summer, however, you can go to Colle dell'Agnello, a shorter route for those who decide to arrive at the Park from Italy.
The whole park is a natural Park, a part is also a reserve and a part of this reserve is one biosphere of Unesco.
Once you arrive at the Queyras Park, it is worth visiting all four valleys and taking an excursion to each of the 8 villages located here: Arvieux, Abriès, Aiguilles, Ceillac, Château-Ville-Vieille, Molines-en- Queyras, Ristolas and Saint-Véran. Each valley has a different architectural style, for example in Ceillac there are large wooden houses.
Accomodation
The Queyras Park offers a single 4-star tree, all the others are 3 stars, but I must say that the two hotels I visited can easily be considered one more category. I stayed in Ceillac a La Ferme de l'Izoard, just below the Col of the Izoard, a real paradise for winter sports lovers.
La Ferme de l'Izoard has half board rooms with prices hovering around 80 € per night. The rooms are very large, the hotel has a nice breakfast room, where I didn't miss the soft-boiled egg, a very large room with fireplace and sofas and swimming pool, sauna, and turkish bath available for everyone customers. Dinner takes place in the restaurant, where a very kind and well-trained staff works. We obviously tasted local cheeses and an excellent soup to warm us up, as it was around -10 ° C outside.
What to eat
One of the most beautiful things about France and this area in particular is the great variety of cheeses that can be tasted. I ate not only cheeses, even if I brought home several, but I ate other local specialties.
Crocquettes
The crocquettes in Queyras are i crumbled sweets which are produced in one place in Queyras and France. A man and his machines produce all the crocqueyttes you find in circulation. They say these crumbled sweets are great base for the cheesecake. I obviously bought them and are still waiting to try them, so I'll let you know. Crocqueyttes can be honey, chocolate or made in several other flavors.
Ravioles tourtons
The ravioles tourtons are actually typical not only of Queyras, but also of the French Alps.
Tartiflettes
The Tartiflettes is served in a small, very hot bowl, where you will find cheese and potatoes inside.
Feselles
Feselles is cow's cheese that is eaten with jam or honey.
Foundues
Finally the inevitable fondue, made with bleu, gruyere and emmental cheese. To eat it I recommend a place located in Château-Ville-Vieille, the Bar du Village - il Village bar. Considered one of the best places in Queyras to eat fondue, this small bar is run by Marie Claude, a somewhat old lady, but certainly delightful, who collects ceramic and any other type of hens.
As for polenta, also for fondue, when eating you should not drink water, but only white wine or herbal tea.
What to visit in Queyras
Among the things I was able to visit during my days in Queyras, I definitely recommend the beautiful village of Saint Veran, the highest municipality in Europe with its own 2042 meters and its houses similar to our “masi”, but here called maison a fustes, literally spindle houses due to the material and shape with which they are made.
In this beautiful village you cannot miss the Soum Museum, the oldest house in the village which dates back to 1641. In this small village, also note the many sundials that are found on the houses, these sundials they had three meanings: they gave the time, they represented the social status of the family that lived there and finally, thanks to the messages that were placed under the sundials, they left a message for future generations.
Many of these sundials came painted by an Italian, who had traveled the world. I recognize it because in these sundials there are brightly colored birds, typical of Caribbean countries.
What to do in Queyras
In Queyras, you play sports, put it in your head. Not only that from the table, because with all the good things there you might think that I am referring only to that, but you do sport seriously, in summer and in winter. In summer i camping they are filled with families or friends who prefer to dedicate themselves to long walks, cycling or doing Rafting, while in winter sports are mainly related to snow.
In the Queyras Park there are a total of 90 km of downhill slopes spread over 4 ski resorts. The four lifts are that of Ceillac and Arvieaux, used mainly by children and beginners, Molin Saint Verant is the largest of all and finally Abriès where you can do off-piste. There is still no shortage of cross-country ski trails, 120 km of slopes that connect the villages, which is also why it is considered the third largest plant in France.
Finally, for those like me who don't know much about skiing, there are always the snowshoeing. During my stay in Queyras I made an incredible night, without lights, guided only by our instincts and by the snowshoes we had on our feet. The snowshoe hike lasted a couple of hours and was possible for everyone, adults and children who took part in the event.
For those with children, the dog sled or if what happened to me should happen to you, that is, that there is too little snow to make it, at least hope you find some sled dogs you can see and stroke. Let your bosses explain how they are looked after, how they play and how their life unfolds.
You will be explained that in each pulka there is a leader, the dog that has more character and charisma, which however is not necessarily the one that is at the top because it must be the best dog at listening to interpret the direction, and it is not even the dog that is closest to the sled because they are two dogs that have more strength. This too is a Queyras experience.
Shopping at the Queyras Park
In addition to taking home some cheese and the inevitable crocqueyttes, I also recommend that you drop by The Wooden Play Factory. The factory has a sales section, a production section and a small museum. It has existed since 1920 and was created mainly to give employment to the inhabitants of the valley.
Since 1940 the facility has been built to improve production, but today due to the production of plastic toys and Chinese competition, only 40 remain from 5 employees. One more reason to come and visit or give a ' look at the online sale on the site.
