The Côte Roannaise is a long east-facing slope where the Monts de la Madeleine drop towards the Loire plain, and Ambierle sits high on it, with vineyards falling away below and the forested hills at its back. On a clear morning you can see across the plain to the Monts du Lyonnais and beyond. This stop is down on the edge of that slope, between Ambierle and Renaison, at the point where the vines give way to meadows and hedges.
Ambierle is worth the short climb. Its priory church, a Benedictine foundation rebuilt in late Gothic style, holds a carved and painted altarpiece from Flanders that is far finer than anyone expects to find in a village of under two thousand people. Nearby Saint-Haon-le-Châtel is a small walled village with old houses squeezed inside its ramparts.
The wine is gamay, as in Beaujolais, but grown on granite and making lighter, peppery reds under the Côte Roannaise name. Roanne, down on the plain, has an outsized reputation for food thanks to the Troisgros family, whose restaurant put the town on the gastronomic map decades ago.
For a swim, keep your expectations sensible. Above Renaison the dams of La Tache and Chartrain hold the drinking water for Roanne, so bathing there is off limits. The nearest proper option is the Loire itself, held back by the Villerest dam south of Roanne, where the lake has had organised bathing and water sports areas in summer.
The riding is lovely. The D8 runs along the hillside through the wine villages with constant views, while roads climbing into the Monts de la Madeleine twist through pine and beech towards the passes, with bumpy patches and the odd logging truck. Renaison and Riorges have fuel and shops, Roanne everything else.