On the road

AIN (01)

Population: 671,289 (Aindinois, Aindinoises)

Prefecture: Bourg-en-Bresse

Sub-prefectures: Nantua, Belley and Gex

Area: 5,762 km²

Region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Specialities: Bresse poultry (the only poultry in the world with AOC-AOP certification), Bresse cream and butter, Bugey wines, cheeses (Comté, Bleu de Gex, Morbier, etc.), fish from Les Dombes, pike quenelles with Nantua sauce, Bresse tart, Pérouges tart, etc.

Heritage: Royal Monastery of Brou, Basilica of Ars (Ars sur Formans), Bird Park, Maison d'Izieu, medieval town of Pérouges, Château des Allymes, Ambronay Abbey, Bresse Museum (now called Domaine des Saveurs-Les Planons), as well as 38 sites listed as sensitive natural areas...

Sport: US Oyonnax (rugby), JL Bourg (basketball), USBPA (rugby), FBBP01 (football). Major competitions: Tour de l'Ain cycling race. Bourg-en-Bresse International Show Jumping (CSI 4****). Bourg Open de l'Ain Tennis Grand Prix. The Ain'ternational Rhône-Alpes Valromey Tour (international junior team event 1 and 2). Pont-de-Vaux Quad World Championships. La Forestière UCI. La Bisous (cycling event). L'Aindinoise (cycling event)

Heritage: Royal Monastery of Brou, Basilica of Ars (Ars-sur-Formans), Bird Park, the medieval town of Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, the Maison d'Izieu, the medieval town of Pérouges, the Château des Allymes, Ambronay Abbey, the Domaine des Saveurs-Les Planons, the Cerdon copperworks, and more. There is also an exceptional natural heritage: 40 sites labelled as sensitive natural areas, numerous lakes, waterfalls, ski areas, the Grand Colombier pass...

Culture: Ambronay Baroque Music Festival / Le Printemps de Pérouges (music) / Les musicales du Parc des oiseaux / Le festival BD dans l’Ain / Festival cuivres en Dombes / Oh ! Bugey festival / À la folie pas du tout / Le grand marché des AOC-AOP-IGP / Les entretiens de Belley (gastronomic event)

Economy: 1st industrial department in France. In January 2019, the Department of Ain launched its Origin'Ain label to promote its many areas of expertise (400 companies). Numerous international competitiveness clusters (La Plastic Vallée, Alimentec, Le Parc industriel de la plaine de l'Ain, etc.)

Websites and social media: www.ain.fr / www.tourdefrance-ain.fr / www.ain-tourisme.com / Facebook: @Departement01 / Instagram: @ain.le.departement / Twitter: @Departement_AIN / YouTube: Département de l'Ain / Snapchat: Snapdelain

Km 11.9 – Gex (Pop. 13,620)

A sub-prefecture of Ain, Gex is part of the Geneva urban area and has seen its population grow steadily due to its proximity to Switzerland, where many cross-border workers live. From 1952 onwards, Gex developed its winter tourism thanks to the Mijoux-La Faucille resort, accessible via the Col de la Faucille. From the 1960s onwards, the arrival of many cross-border workers and CERN transformed the town with the creation of new residential neighbourhoods. However, Gex has retained its historic centre, with houses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries and a church renovated in the 19th century.

Among the local specialities, it is worth noting Bleu de Gex, a blue-veined cheese made from raw cow's milk.

The men’s Tour de France stopped twice in Gex, more than a century ago, in 1920 and 1924, with victories for Nicolas Frantz and Léon Scieur.

Burgundy-Franche-Comté region

Departments: Côte d'Or, Doubs, Jura, Nièvre, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort

Population: 2.8 million

Prefecture: Dijon

Area: 47,784 km²

Specialities: Burgundy and Maconnais wines, Jura wines, cheeses (Comté, Mont d'Or, Morbier, Bleu de Gex, Cancoillotte), beef bourguignon, Bresse poultry, kir.

Sports clubs: FGC Sochaux, AJ Auxerre, FC Gueugnon (football), Elan Sportif Chalonnais, JDA Dijon (basketball), Jeanne d'Arc Dijon (handball)

Competitions: motor racing at the Dijon-Prenois circuit, Franck Pineau cycle race in Auxerre

Economy: automotive (Peugeot-Montbéliard), Alstom, General Electric (rail), steel, mining, parachemistry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plastics, paper, mechanical and automotive industries, agriculture (cereals, beet, cattle farming, cheese). Forestry. Watchmaking. Tourism.

Festivals: Eurockéennes in Belfort, Beaune Hospices Charity Auction, Grandes Heures de Cluny, Rencontres Musicales of Vézelay, Ecrans de l'Aventure (Adventure Screens) in Dijon, Dijon International and Gastronomic Fair, Fenêtres sur Courts in Dijon. Courbet Bicentennial. Besançon Early Music Festival.

Tourist attractions: Fontenay Abbey, Vézelay Basilica, Notre-Dame-du-Haut Chapel in Ronchamp, Burgundy vineyards, Besançon Citadel, Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy in Dijon, Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, Autun Cathedral, Guédelon Castle, Hospices de Beaune, Citadel and Lion of Belfort, Cluny Abbey, Ballon d'Alsace, Solutré Rock.

Websites and social media: www.bourgognefranchecomte.fr

Km 37 – Lajoux (Pop. 960)

The church in Lajoux features beautiful stained-glass windows by painter Coghuf, who had a strong influence in the region. A little further on, in Les Genevez, the stained-glass windows in the church are the work of one of his pupils, Yves Voirol.

Km 46.1 – Saint-Claude (Pop. 12,000)

Condat (its original name) is located at the confluence of the Bienne and Tacon rivers. In 510, it took the name of its fourth abbot, Saint Oyan, whose prestige faded in the 12th century in favour of its 12th abbot, Saint Claude, who died around 700 after having been bishop of Besancon (a place of pilgrimage, the town benefited in 1160 from the discovery of the intact body of Abbot Claude, who had died 460 years earlier, to increase its renown).

A centre for wood and stone carving in the Middle Ages, then for stone cutting in the 18th century, stringed instrument making, snuffbox and pipe manufacturing. Pipe and Diamond Museum. Remains of the ancient ramparts.

Saint-Claude is the birthplace of Alexis Vuillermoz, winner of the 8th stage of the 2015 Tour de France in Mûr-de-Bretagne and a stage of the Dauphiné in 2022. A former mountain bike specialist, he competed in eight Tours de France and finished 13th in 2017. He retired from sport in 2024.

Location: at the foot of Mont Bayard, the cathedral, far from being dwarfed by the mountain, seems to form a single entity with it.

Style: Gothic.

History: a former 14th-century abbey church of Saint-Oyend Abbey, founded in the 5th century, it was elevated to cathedral status in 1742.

Characteristics: fortified in the 14th-17th centuries: buttresses with watchtowers and spires; 15th-century apse, classical façade dating from 1727, 15th-century stained-glass windows. The exterior walls are over three metres thick. The building is austere and massive. One of its peculiarities is that one of its bell towers (on the left side) was never completed.

Listed as: Historic Monument since 1906.

Pipe and Diamond Museum

In the 19th century, Saint-Claude was the world centre of the pipe industry and a renowned site for diamond and precious stone cutting. The Brotherhood of Master Pipe Makers and the Association of Diamond Cutters of the Haut-Jura in Saint-Claude have joined forces to present the history of pipe making and the gemstone cutting industry in Saint-Claude in this museum. On display are collections of pipes from yesterday and today, snuff boxes, diamonds, cut precious stones and synthetic stones, masterpieces by various craftsmen, tools and machines from yesteryear, a manufacturing and cutting workshop, photos, documents, video projections and more. The museum exhibits a series of unique pipes, each bearing the image of a President of the French Republic. Extraordinary pipes (the longest pipe in the world) and historical pipes (the corn pipe of the Micmac Native Americans, made famous by American General Douglas MacArthur) are also on display.

Km 59.7 – Hauts de Bienne (Pop. 5,100)

A commune formed in 2016 from the merger of Morez, La Mouille and Lézat. Marked in the 20th and 21st centuries by the eyewear industry, after having been the capital of Franche-Comté’s clocks in the 19th century, Morez is located near the Swiss border, at the foot of the Les Rousses resort. It is the second largest town in the Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park. The town has an eyewear museum. Industrialists who have left their mark, such as Henri Lissac (eyewear manufacturer) and Lucien Terraillon (scales), are from Morez.

Opened: 2003.

History: Morez has been the capital of French eyewear manufacturing since the early 19th century. The town owes its existence to the presence of a river, the Bienne, which enabled ironworking. Morez is in fact a relatively young town. It was not until the 16th century that people settled in the area known as La Combe Noire. Among them was a blacksmith, Étienne Morel, who gave his name to the village: Morez.

Characteristics: 450 modern and antique spectacles are on display here among the 2,500 objects in the collection. The glasses on display have been chosen for their history, their owner (notably Marie de Médicis, Victoire de France and Sarah Bernhardt), their designer (André Courrèges and Philippe Starck), their shape, the materials used or the manufacturing technique. Finally, the main models from the Morez workshops are also on display.

Label: Musée de France.

Km 84.2 – Foncine-le-Bas (Pop. 190)

Location: Waterfall with a total height of 110 m located on the Bief de la Ruine stream, a tributary on the right bank of the Saine. In the north of the Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park.

Characteristics: It consists of a dozen successive drops with a total length of 350 m and a height difference of 110 m.

Km 99.7 – Champagnole (Pop. 8,000)

In 2024, the seventh stage of the Tour de France Femmes started in Champagnole and headed for Le Grand Bornand, where Justine Ghekiere won ahead of Maeva Squiban and Demi Vollering. This victory enabled the Belgian rider to win the polka dot jersey in this edition.

At the foot of Mont Rivel, Champagnole is a cross-country skiing stronghold and the birthplace of France's most decorated Olympic athlete, Quentin Fillon-Maillet. The 33-year-old biathlete has won nine medals at the Winter Games, including five titles, two in Beijing in 2022 and three in Milan-Cortina in 2026. Other champions hailing from Champagnole include Hervé Balland, Sylvain Guillaume, footballer Grégory Pujol and former international rugby player Alain Carminati.

The town has also hosted the Tour de France twice, in 1937 (won by Sylvère Maes) and in 2020, when Denmark's Soren Kragh Andersen won solo.

Km 141.6 – Arbois (Pop. 3,300)

A small rural town with a rich historical heritage, Arbois has many assets, including agriculture driven by viticulture and tourism based on heritage and gastronomy. Home to the famous wines of Arbois, known since ancient times, it produces some of the best wines in the Jura region, such as vin jaune and vin de paille. The Château Pécauld Wine Museum pays tribute to this vocation. Château Bontemps and Saint-Just Church are the town's other most notable monuments, along with the house where Louis Pasteur grew up, lived and worked.

Arbois was the starting point for a 54.5 km time trial in the 1963 Tour de France, won in Besancon by Jacques Anquetil. The town also hosted three finishes of the Tour de l'Avenir between 2011 and 2015.

History: in 1827, Louis Pasteur, a native of Dole, arrived at the age of five with his parents in this house on the banks of the Cuisance, where his father set up his tannery. The future scientist, chemist, physicist (by training) and pioneer of microbiology spent his early years here until the age of 17. He became known at that time (less well known) for his talents as a painter. This house, which he inherited in 1865, was his haven of peace where he could meet up with his winegrower friends and work in his small laboratory (studying wine fermentation and developing pasteurisation).

Current use: today, it is a museum dedicated to his memory, housing his laboratory, and has been awarded the Maisons des Illustres label. It is owned by the Académie des Sciences foundation.

Fun fact: it was chosen as one of 18 iconic sites for the 2021 heritage lottery.

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1937.

White wines are the most popular, made from Chardonnay and Savagnin grapes, or red wines made from Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot Noir grapes.

But there is also vin jaune, made from a single grape variety, Savagnin. After slow fermentation, this wine is placed in oak barrels, where it remains for at least six years. It is sold in a special bottle, the clavelin, with a capacity of 62 cl (this is what remains of a litre of wine after six years).

Vin de paille, made from raisined grapes: after harvesting, the grapes are either left on a bed of straw or on racks, or hung in a well-ventilated room for 2 to 3 months. After a very slow fermentation, it is then aged for three years in barrels.

Macvin: a fortified wine made by blending grape juice and old Jura marc. It must then age for 18 months in oak barrels.

Marc du Jura: a very refined brandy. Ageing in oak barrels gives it a beautiful straw-yellow colour.

Moidons National Forest

In these pleasant, moss-covered woods between Arbois and Champagnole, 234 prehistoric burial sites have been discovered. These tumuli, mounds of stones or earth that our ancestors built over graves, form one of the most beautiful burial sites in eastern France. Some of these necropolises date back to the 18th century BC.