Our Region
Come and visit the region near the secret vineyard of the Domaine du Clos de la Bierle
Here is an example of our “cultural and gourmet escape”. Our guides can provide you more different types of offers in your language on a simple request by email.
I invite you to discover another kind of France, far different from the stereotyped places, and which we call, with respect and nostalgia, the heartlands of France, with their populations, history and traditions, festivals, gastronomy. Come and admire the breathtaking landscapes in the Ain, a fantastic place for an unforgettable stay where I can organize a unique tour for you and just a chosen few.
The township of Poncin (+/- 75 km from Lyon) is an ancient medieval city whose castle was demolished by King Henri VI because he found the citizens too proud.
I can organise for you, in the cellars of the Clos de la Bierle, a tasting session of the “Frizant de Cerdon”, gold medal, with Comté cheese and rustic bread and also a Pérouges pancake made with freshly laid eggs and sugar. The vintner, TT, the owner, will explain how this ancestral wine is made and I will be your interpreter.
It is also possible for you to see in Poncin, in the street named after him, the home of Xavier Bichat, a doctor who was an inspiration for the three humanist doctors, his disciples, who created the recipe of Cerdon du Clos de la Bierle, a beverage which, according to the legend, brought patients a new lease of life and suppressed morbid thoughts.
Some highlights such as the visit to Pérouges, a protected medieval village, a 35 km drive from the cellars, will plunge you back in time to 1238. The high gate leads you to the pebbled street where there were rounds and then you will discover the linden square whose tree is many centuries old. You can treat yourself to an epicurean stay at the “Manor Hotel” or in a “guesthouse, offering homely comfort”.
4 km from the cellars, Neuville sur l’Ain boasts a surprising paleolithic treasure, the homes of fishermen during the ice age (mid quaternary), nestling on both banks of the river Ain, and the famous grotto of the “Colombier”, where a mammoth bone engraved with a human face was discovered, along with hundreds of tools such as flints, scrapers, points and so on, in other words hunting arms and everyday instruments. Also to be seen is the panoramic view from the Gay shelter in the township of Poncin. If you feel like it, you can go and see the oil mill in Doctor Hubert street, open only on Saturday or by appointment, phone 04 74 37 72 80. There’s no entry fee and you can buy some high quality walnut oil, the nuts are ground by an ancient stone wheel.
5 km from Poncin and the cellars, the town of Jujurieux is a testimony of the distinguished past and the completion of the silk route. This township possesses 13 castles and represents a journey back to the past from prehistoric times to the Renaissance. The silk-makers, Bonnet, set up their factory there in 1835, surrounded by numerous marked trails, which provide many instructive routes among the hamlets.
It is only 70 km to Lyon, the French economic and finance capital of Europe during the Renaissance (the year 1500), then the terminal point of the famous silk route during the Napoléon Bonaparte epoch (the year 1800). Lyon is renowned for its gastronomy and is less than an hour away from the Domain de la Bierle. A visit would enable you to discover thanks to its monuments and quarters its respect for the past, but above all its future, shown by its architecture, population, cultural wealth and gastronomy.
It would be a great pleasure for me to create unusual visits just for you, complying with your budgets and the timeframe which you define.