The popular ski resort of Tignes comprises of a number of small villages, dotted between 1500-2100 metres in altitude. Historically, 'Tignes' per se, was made up of the village of Les Brevieres and the old village of Tignes. However, increasing dependence on electricty throughout France saw the construction of the huge Tignes Dam, the flooding the original village and the creation of a large reservoir (now known as the Lac du Chevril). The new hydro electric barrage was expected to meet up to ten percent of France's power needs; but was made redundant before the project had even got off the ground, due to the advent of nuclear power. This came much to the bitter resentment of local people, many of whom had served time for their part in attempting to blow up dam during its construction. 'New' Tignes consists of a number of villages, including the purpose built
Tignes Le Lac and
Tignes Val Claret. Neither village would win awards for their 'avante garde' concrete jungle architecture, but who cares when you get to go skiing on the Grande Motte glacier all day and join the avante garde beer goggle society by night.
