YOUR PROGRAM

Full day discovery with your guide towards the province of Ain.

Arrival in the village of Perouges, classified under the French label « Most Beautiful Villages of France », which is an absolute eye-catcher thanks to its ancient stone houses and its cobblestone streets with a middle aged charm, hidden behind a double ramparts enclosure… Guided walking tour of this former city of artisans, merchants and peasants, perched on top of a hill, overlooking the Rhone plain. Tasting of its local specialty: the « galette of Pérouges » (sweet thick dough sugar tart).

Then, head to Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne is a village which historical middle aged heritage is very well preserved and its ancient center, its half-timbered houses and its flowered bridges make it an essential stop during your stay. F Each Saturday morning, you can enjoy the traditional market: poultries, local and Mediterranean products and also live animals are sold under the tremendous wooden market structure dating from the 15^th century.

Typical Bresse lunch in a traditional restaurant or farmhouse.

After lunch, drive to Bourg-en-Bresse, the capital of the province Ain.

Arrival at the Royal Monastery of Brou* : pure masterpiece of art and jewel of Gothic flamboyant style of the 16th century, the site is ranked under the French label « most beautiful churches in France », admirable by its exuberance and finesse of architecture. The edifice abounds in treasures, pieces of work made by the best French and Flemish masters and artists of the period: a majestically adorned church, cloister with various styles, magnificent halls with ceilings of groined vaults, large surrounding gardens, roof with glazed tiles and a museum with beautiful collections…

*This very unique religious building has become a « must see » of the region with international renown

Then, guided tour of the apothecary of Bourg-en-Bresse, located in the Hotel-Dieu, a building built in the late eighteenth century. Enjoy seeing the laboratory with the chemistry of past centuries: very well preserved copper stills, mortars, furnace iron. The backroom reveals for its first earthenware jars, pots or shrimp canon, and a library containing old books, some dating back even to the seventeenth century. The dispensary, with its oak paneling style Louis XV and Louis XVI, custom carved to store containers and entire pharmacopoeia of the time so carefully preserved in a thousand containers: water, powders, ointments, or pills.

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Continue the route with a guided itinerary through the natural territory of Bresse, to discover the particularities of the local terroir: bocage landscapes, typical Bresse architecture of the local half-timbered farms with Saracen chimney and wood paneled gallery, not forgetting the unique tradition of poultry breeding, flagship of the French gastronomy.

LOCAL GASTRONOMY

• Visit of a local cheese factory: the Comté cheese is one the most produced cheeses near Bourg-en-Bresse. Origines of the site, production, maturing process… and tasting!
• Head to a vineyard cellar of Cerdon, village which gives the name to its sparkly rosé wine. Proceed to a wine tasting with presentation of their particularities: grapes varieties, terroir and aromas. 
• Taste the famous frog legs during a typical local lunch, very appreciated specialty by the local people, in this region where they live in abundance.