The French Alps ( French : Alpes françaises ; Arpitan : Ârpes francêses ; Occitan : Aups francesas ; Ligurian : Arpi françéixi ) are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France , located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as the Mont Blanc massif , are shared with Switzerland and Italy .
4-609: The Grandes Rousses are a massif in the French Alps located in the departments of Isère and Savoie . Oisans covers part of the massif. The massif is oriented north–south. The eastern slope, although it is sometimes considered to extend to the Galibier and Télégraphe passes and therefore including the Arves massif , is limited by the Arvan and Ferrand rivers. The Eau d'Olle rivers and therefore
8-773: A church. Although of moderate importance on a European scale, Brandes was of significant importance to the Dauphiné region . French Alps At 4,808 metres (15,774 ft), Mont Blanc , on the France–Italy border , is the highest mountain in the Alps, and the highest Western European mountain . Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble , Chamonix , Annecy , Chambéry , Évian-les-Bains and Albertville . The largest connected ski areas are: The other large ski areas are: A range of winter and summer activities are available in
12-500: The Belledonne range to the west, and Romanche and the Écrins massif to the south form its other geographical limits. The Grandes Rousses massif is a crystalline geological formation similar to the nearby Belledonne range. It forms a long, north–south oriented chain, appearing as a northern extension of the Écrins massif. The massif is characterized by several north–south bands, many of which are separated by structural depressions from
16-501: The late Hercynian period . These depressions, likely synclines or grabens , are filled with coal-bearing lands, some of which show Triassic deposits lying at 90 degrees. The Grandes Rousses massif is dotted with numerous abandoned mines. The most notable site is Brandes-en-Oisans, a mining village that operated silver mines from the 12th to the 14th century. Located in the commune of Huez at an altitude of over 1,800 meters, Brandes-en-Oisans once had up to 80 buildings centered around
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