Saint-Amour sits at the very southern tip of the Jura department, where the first ridges of the Jura mountains meet the flat Bresse plain. The town is old and compact, with narrow streets, a church and a few remnants of its medieval past, and it has the relaxed feel of a place on the border between two worlds: the farms and chicken runs of the Bresse to the west, and the forests and limestone of the Revermont to the east.
Its name has a romantic ring, but it comes from a pair of early Christian martyrs, Amator and Viator, whose relics were brought here, according to tradition. The town's history is tied to the counts of Burgundy and the Franche-Comté, and it changed hands several times before becoming French in the seventeenth century.
As a food stop, Saint-Amour is a good choice. There are a few restaurants and cafés in town, and the food of the region is rich and satisfying: Comté cheese from the Jura mountains, Bresse chicken, morel mushrooms, smoked sausages from Morteau and Montbéliard, and the wines of the Jura, including the distinctive vin jaune. Not every restaurant will have all of these, but you will rarely eat badly.
The riding around Saint-Amour is excellent. The roads east into the Revermont climb through forests and limestone valleys, with plenty of bends and short, steep climbs. To the north, the roads lead towards Lons-le-Saunier and the heart of the Jura. Traffic is light, and surfaces are generally good. Fuel is available in town.