Chartreuse Forest Passes · part 2

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet

   In the Monts de la Madeleine, the hills between the Loire and the Allier, Saint-Just-en-Chevalet sits high on a ridge, a small village of granite houses where the main road from Lyon to Clermont-Ferrand once brought a steady stream of travellers. The motorway now runs to the south, and the village has returned to a quieter life, surrounded by forests, meadows and the occasional pond.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Photo stop near Saint-Just-en-Chevalet is where the day begins. Next is Food stop in Saint-Amour.

2. 2. Food stop in Saint-Amour

   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.

   Read the complete Food stop in Saint-Amour write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Food stop in Saint-Amour is where this day stops to eat. Next is Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides.

3. 3. Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides

   Moirans-en-Montagne is a small town of about two thousand in the Jura, where the mountains of Franche-Comté are laid out in long, parallel ridges, and it has a surprise for the visitor: a museum of toys, one of the best in France, in an old convent, which celebrates the local tradition of toy-making in wood and plastic. The Jura has a history of small workshops using local timber, producing clocks, pipes, toys and spectacles, and that heritage is part of the area's character. Arinthod, a village of about thirteen hundred, is a handsome little market place with an arcaded square and a scattering of old houses.

   Read the complete Lyon / Rhône-Alpes rides write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 281 km.