Giron, Ain
Giron is a commune in the French department of Ain, in the Rhône -Alpes.
Geography
Giron is located at 1000 m above sea level. Level, about 14 kilometers north- west of the town of Bellegarde -sur -Valserine (air line). The village is located in the French Jura on a slightly sloping plateau to the west above the deep valley of the Semine. It is the highest village in the department of Ain.
The area of 9.39 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the high Jura. The central part of the area is occupied by the plateau of Giron ( average altitude of 1000 m. M. ). This descends slightly to the west and then falls with a densely wooded slope steeply to the valley of the Semine from which drains the community area to the south to Valserine. To the east of the plateau is followed by a 150 m high slope, which in the east goes further into the high plateau of the Forêt de Champfromier. However, only a narrow strip of wooded plateau belongs to Giron. Here is 1200 m above sea level. M. reached the highest elevation of Giron. The municipality is part of the Regional Natural Park of Haut -Jura ( frz: Parc Naturel Régional du Haut- Jura). Giron is located at GR 9 and is the southernmost terminus of cross-country skiing version of the Grande Traversée du Jura.
At Giron include not only the actual village Giron -Devant also the north then Giron - Derrière (990 m above sea level. M. ) and some homesteads. Neighboring communities of Giron are Belleydoux in the north, Champfromier in the east, Saint- Germain- de -Joux in the south and Échallon in the West.
History
Originally belonged to the municipality of Giron -Devant Champfromier while Giron - Derrière was part of Échallon. With the French Revolution, the two hamlets were merged to form the new municipality of Giron.
Attractions
The village church of Giron was rebuilt in the 19th century. The approximately 25 m long cave grotto of Abrands is registered as a site classé and is open for visits.
Population
With 166 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Giron is one of the smallest municipalities of the department of Ain. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century, a slight population growth was recorded since the early 1990s again.
Economy and infrastructure
Giron was until well into the 20th century a predominantly coined by agriculture and forestry village. Today, there are some establishments of local small businesses. Many employed persons are also commuters who engage in the larger towns in the area and mainly in Bellegarde -sur -Valserine their work.
Due to its location on a plateau of porous limestone, the place has to fight since the beginning problems with the water supply. The supply wells was more than possible for individual farms, so that water was harnessed with the partly complex process such as opening up of underground sources Regenwassereinfang and melting snow. Since 1934, water is fed or pumped from outside the community in a storage system.
In recent decades, the plateau of Giron and the plateau of the Forêt de Champfromier developed into a winter sports area for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. In good snow conditions around 100 km of cross -country ski trails are available.
The village is located off the major thoroughfares. The main access is from Saint- Germain- de -Joux in the department of road D1084 ( Bellegarde- sur -Valserine - Nantua ). More local road links exist with Belleydoux, Champfromier and La Pesse. The nearest links to the A40 motorway is located at a distance of around 18 kilometers.