Bourg-en-Bresse tourism

34 Pages·2016·14.9 MB·English

2016
Bourg-en-Bresse
a g g l o m é r a t i o n
t o u r i s m
a tasty territory that titillates your taste buds… p 5
around the royal monastery of Brou, History’s tales… p 7
From lakes to mountains, a natural aroma... p 11
off the beaten track : surprising offers... p 14
a happy land for happy kids... p 15
RANGE OF TOURIST ACTIVITES
suggestions for stays… p 18
stays, Day-trips, “a la carte” offers : pick and mix ! ... p 20
Business tourism : the new market for group tourism… p 22
a large variety of accommodation and restaurants… p 25
2016 : EVENTS NOT TO MISS
p 27

p 29

Bourg-En-Bresse is the prefecture of the Ain in the Rhône-Alpes region and the main city of
a conurbation of 15 communities* and 74 300 inhabitants.
Situated less than one hour from Lyon and the Beaujolais, an hour from Geneva (Switzerland),
one and a half from Annecy, and 30 minutes from southern Burgundy, Bourg-en-Bresse is
an easily-accessible destination thanks to two international airports (Lyon Saint-Exupery
and Geneva-Cointrin), to the motorways (A39, A40, A42) and the direct TGV for Paris
(2 hours) and Geneva (1 hour).
The city naturally presents itself as a place for an epicurean stay, a haven of peace,
culturally rich and central for visits to the eastern-centre of France.
* Buellas, Dompierre-sur-Veyle, Jasseron, Lent, Montcet, Montracol, Péronnas, Polliat,
Saint-André-sur-Vieux-Jonc, Saint-Denis lès Bourg, Saint-Rémy, Servas, Vandeins, Viriat
Paris
1h50
Chalon-sur-Saône
1h
Strasbourg
Cluny 4h
Dôle JURA
BOURGOGNE A 6 DPEO-VNATU-X 1h15
Lons-le-Saunier
9
MMâcâocnon A 3 35’
2200’’ A 40
Aéroport
Genève-Cointrin
VONNAS A 404 A 40 Gen1èhve
BOURG-EN-BRESSE
Paris Turin
CHÂTILLON- 1h50 Chalon-sur-Saône Milan
S/ CHALARONNE Cluny CE1hRDOStrNasb4ohurgDôle JURA A1nhn3e0cy
BEAUJOLAIS BOURGOGNLEEVS-IDLLOAMâMR2c0oS’Bn-ES A 6 DAPE O-4V0NATU-X A 39 1h15 Lons3-l5e’-Saunier
ARS
PÉROUGES VONNASBOURG-EN-BRESSE A 404 A 40 ALPESGAGéeernoènpvo1eèr-thCvoeintrin
Turin
CHÂTILLON- Milan
Lyon A 42 S/ CHALARONNE VILLARS- CERDON A1nhn3e0cy
45’ BEAUJOLAIS LES-DOMBES
ARS
A 43 Aéroport
Lyon PÉROUGES ALPES
Saint-Exupéry
St-Etienne 7 A L4y5o’n A 42
1h40 A 43 ALSyaéoirnnot-pEoxrut péry Grenoble
St-Etienne 7 A 1h40
Marseille 1h40
Grenoble
2h40 Marseille 1h40
2h40
products
Bresse pdo poultry, the only poultry in the world to hold this quality certificate, Bresse butter and
cream also have also obtained PDo in 2014 (protected Designation of origin) status, or the parsley
and garlic frog’s legs from the Dombes : awaken your senses !
several other typical regional dishes are worth a glance:
- giraudet’s famous quenelles (dumplings)
Giraudet is the only maker of quenelles to maintain the spoon-moulding tradition
for part of its production. The company has a chef who creates new recipes for
fresh soups, sauces and quenelles every year. He shares some of his secrets at the
cookery lessons given at the headquarters in Bourg-en-Bresse or in shops in Lyon
and Paris. The company’s skill has been rewarded with the Entreprise du patrimoine
vivant (“Living heritage enterprise”).
- Bresse Blue cheese, made close to Bourg-en-Bresse, and its derivatives such as the “Bresson” – a
sausage made with Bresse Blue cheese PDo. Comté is the other honoured cheese of the region of
Bourg-en-Bresse, situated at the southern point of the “Comté trail”.
The Routes du Comté selected as a European Destination of Excellence in July
2015! In July 2015 the Routes du Comté network was awarded the Eden label,
which was established by the European Commission to promote development
models for sustainable tourism throughout the European Union.
The 2015 competition, organised by Atout France under the auspices of the
Direction Générale des Entreprises, focused on the theme of «tourism and
gastronomy».
Alongside the other prize-winners this year – with our Burgundy cousins from
Tournus and Tournugeois (winners of the first prize and the venue for the Franco-
Gourmandes festival, which is sponsored this year by… Comté!), Guillestre
(Queyras Regional Park) and Baie de Saint-Brieuc Paimpol - Les Caps (in Côtes
d’Armor) – the Routes du Comté are now one of only 26 French destinations to
have been awarded this prestigious label.
The Eden competition highlights the values, diversity and characteristics of European
tourist destinations that share a commitment to social, cultural and environmental
sustainability.
The 2015 EDEN competition acknowledged destinations that have developed
services for visitors based on local gastronomy. This involves recognition of culinary
expertise in one or more fields, for example, the creation of a gastronomic event or
circuit, a traditional market or the establishment of close collaboration between local
producers and restaurants… The EDEN destinations give visitors the chance to explore
local culture and traditions, and to enjoy unforgettable experiences thanks to the
diversity of their hidden treasures.
Bourg-en-Bresse is at the southern tip of the Route du Comté.
- Gaudrioles, biscuits which are sweet or savoury, crunchy or soft, and which are made of grilled
organic maize flour.
- Bressan tart, a tart with cream and sugar and its regional variation with pralines.
- cdo Wines from the Bugey (Controlled designation of origin) : white, red but also a sparkling rosé –
Cerdon – made according to a traditional method.
the breeders, producers and craftsmen of the catering trade perpetuate the Bressan gastronomic traditions
and play the ace of quality. Colourful and busy markets, some of which offer livestock for sale, are the best
illustration of this. Beautiful... and mouth-watering !
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The producers’ and students’ shop gets bigger
The Sardières agricultural college in Bourg-en-Bresse has technological premises for
food processing at the disposal of the students, but also of producers from the region
who do not have their own facilities. A shop called Sardélices has been added to this
area, inside the college, but open to the public. It has recently been renovated and
extended, putting new products on sale, such as chicken mango curry (developed in
partnership with Artisans du Monde), raspberry coulis or extra-fruity jams made with 90g
of fruit for every 100g of jam.
markets
Food products: organic products, flowers, odds and ends, clothes, sale of live poultry : Wednesday
morning in Bourg-en-Bresse (Fair ground and Covered Hall, esplanade de la Comédie)
Food products: saturday morning (Fair ground and Covered Hall in Bourg-en-Bresse), sunday morning
in the Vennes district of Bourg-en-Bresse.
Livestock sales: tuesday from 10.30 to 2pm (Foirail de la Chambière in st Denis-les-Bourg). the biggest
livestock market in France when you considered the number of animals sold each year.
+ The Foirail de Bourg-en-Bresse / Saint-Denis lès Bourg is the biggest livestock market
in France in terms of the number of animals sold each year, with over 100,000 cattle
and horses changing hands.
eVeNts
many gastronomic events perpetuate the epicurean delight throughout the year, from the legendary
Pig Festival to the unmissable glorieuses de Bresse which celebrates the best of local poultry, and not
forgetting the gastronomic Fair and the market of PDo products.
6
See page 27 for the 2016 calendar of gastronomic events and on www.bourgenbressetourisme.fr
a Bit oF history…
the history of the city goes back to the neolithic period, but it’s the invasions that brought “Burgus”
into the history books : Druids erected more than 300 standing stones on a hill at the junction of two
rivers; the Reyssouze and the Cône. Later the Romans fortified the area as they considered it to be of
strategic importance in its position at the entrance of lugdunum “Capital of the three gauls”. in the
10th C the sovereigns of Bresse built a lordly dwelling and half a league away a village of farmers and
potters developed, where later the romans built a temple in the place that then became a site for
the Catholic cult. today known as Brou this area is internationally recignised for its royal monastery,
built in the 16th C by marguerite d’autriche in memory of her deceased husband Philibert ii of savoy.
on a crossroads and at a border, Bourg-en-Bresse built a citadel in the 16th C in increased its notoriety
thanks to commerce and the quality of its crafts. Buildings grew everywhere : convents, notre Dame
church and rich merchant’s houses. in 1601 the treaty of lyon attached the Bresse to the kingdom
of France. expansion continued in the 18th and 19th centuries with mansions, a hospital and the
prefecture...
today a city of industry (wire-mills, metallurgy and mechanical construction), green and gracious,
Bourg-en-Bresse is the heart of a conurbation of 15 communities.
From marguerite d’autriche to gustave Doré, via the astronomer Jérôme lalande, the doctor Xavier
Bichat, or the author and humanist edgar Quinet, there are many women and men who made
the city what it is today. several walking tours (independent, guided or animated) allow visitors to
discover the tales of the city’s history.
heritaGe must-sees
the royal monastery of Brou, a national monument like the mont saint-michel, azay le rideau
Castle or Cluny abbey, is the symbolic site of Bourg-en-Bresse. it was also voted France’s
favourite monument in september 2014 during a famous tV show. this church with a varnished
roof is ranked among the hundred most beautiful in France for its flamboyant Gothic façade
resembling stone lace, the three princes’ tombs and the finely carved altarpiece of the seven
joys of the Virgin. its rood screen, which is among the few still visible in France, is now open to
visitors and provides enjoy a bird’s eye view of the choir and the tombs, and a chance to fully
enjoy the newly renovated stained glass windows. Besides opening the unusual rood screen
up to visitors (see above), the Prior’s apartments are also now part of the sightseeing circuit
and provide access to the museum in the upper gallery of the third cloister. adjacent to the
church, three majestic cloisters and a museum of Fine arts can also be visited. major exhibitions
and many events, conferences, themed tours and activities for young visitors (archaeology
workshops, tours for children aged 2 and up, game booklet, etc.) are also in store for visitors.
The À la folie… pas du tout festival, launched in 2011, highlights the monument
in a very artistic way with readings, concerts, meetings and performances each
summer. Culture is accessible to all: the monument entrance fee includes access to
the concert or performance of the day, free of charge as part of this festival.
NeW
eVeNt 2016. After successful testing in spring 2015, the monastery façade will again
be illuminated in summer 2016. The series of animated and colourful pictures recounts
the history of the site and the misfortunes of Margaret of Austria, as she loses her
much-loved husband Philibert the Handsome – a story of love and death that is at
the origin of the monument. The lightshow is the work of Gilbert Coudène, one of the
leading figures in the neighbouring Fête des Lumières (“Festival of Lights”) in Lyon.
another place to visit: the apothecary of the Hôtel-Dieu, equipped with a rare laboratory still in
perfect condition and open to visits. the gooseneck and copper still are intact: the storeroom
contains many works on medicine and pharmacy, some dating from the 17th C. the dispensary
contains more than a thousand ceramic and glass jars of the period some of which still contain
their healing substances as bizarre as dragon’s blood, mercury or bear fat !
surprising: the museum of tabulating machines contains more than 300 typewriters, calculators
and accounting machines, the ancestors of today’s computers and tablets ! a unique
collection in France, recently improved by a machine which dates from 1840. ex-mechanics
work to keep these machines alive and help to understand these nearly-forgotten objects.
the old quarters of Bourg-en-Bresse invite discoveries ; medieval timber-frame houses, elegant
stone facades embellished with wrought iron balconies, mansions, Celtic remains, the gothic
porch of the old Dominican convent or the co-cathedral notre Dame and its legend of the
black virgin. the parks, gardens and fountains which accompany the visitor are a reminder
that Bourg-en-Bresse is a resolutely green city, forever looking to the surrounding nature.
in 2014, the City wanted to join the Cathedral Cities network, like albi,
Beauvais, Chartres or Rouen, to reaffirm the importance of the Co-Cathedral of
notre-Dame in the heritage and tourism landscape of Bourg-en-Bresse. this architectural
masterpiece, which is visited each year by many tourists, is part of the city’s cultural and touristic
appeal.
the construction of the Collegiate Co-Cathedral of notre-Dame (named
co-cathedral as it was the secondary seat of the Bishopric) began in 1505 on the site of an old
romanesque chapel of pilgrimage, and was not completed until 1696. the bell tower, whose
top was removed during the reign of terror, was rebuilt in reinforced concrete between 1911
and 1913 by tony Ferret, an architect who worked extensively in the city. in 1982, a facelift
allowed it to regain its former glory with ramasse white stone from revermont. the roof was
renovated in 1986 and underfloor heating was installed in 2006.
inside: the statue of the Black madonna, nestled in a 19th-century neo-gothic altar, is a reminder
of the importance of marian devotion since the 13th century.
See also: the miraculous painting, the stalls (1511-1519), the choir’s magnificent pendant
keystone, the stained glass window of st Crispin and st Crispinian, patron saints of shoemakers
(1530), the triptych by nicolas Chichon (1523), the pulpit (1760) with the four evangelists and
the archangel michael slaying the dragon, and the organs (17th century), which feature in a
series of concerts each year in early summer.
the whole church has been a listed Historic monument since 1914. at nightfall, the monument
is beautifully lit up.
arouNd BourG-eN-Bresse
several other sites are also worth a visit:
- the roman churches with beautiful buildings to be seen in the communities to the west of
Bourg-en-Bresse: montracol, saint rémy, Buellas and also Vandeins with its tympanum.
- Bressan farms with their sarrasine chimneys, emblems of the history and the daily life of the
Bresse. they can be admired along the “Bresse route” which leads from Bourg-en-Bresse to the
saone valley, passing through upper Bresse to the north west of the prefecture town. several
farms are open to visits as museums: maison du pays en Bresse, sougey farm, De la Fôret farm
and the unmissable Bresse museum in Domaine des Planons. some farms still rear poultry. all
of the farms play their part as eco-museums showing collections of furnishings and antique
objects. several exhibitions and demonstrations shown occasionally encourage the visitor to
relive the past and discover traditional crafts.
some mills, like moulin Bruno in Jayat are another way to discover local heritage.
- the medieval city of pérouges: at the heart of the Dombes region this ancient town of
craftsmen merchants and landowners is incredibly well preserved. old stone houses, cobbled
streets and circular ground plan – change century !
- some more sites to visit less than an hour from Bourg-en-Bresse: ambronay abbey, Fléchères
castle, the Bonnet silk mills in Jujurieux, the city of trévoux all the heart of a country of art and
history, ars sur Formans (pilgrimage site), ...
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2 0 1 6 Trévoux, town of art – and modernity
Rue[s] des Arts is now the home of 13 artists and craftsmen and women, at the heart of
the old town of Trévoux. Here you can encounter a sculptor working in stone, a stringed-
instrument maker specialised in harps, a visual artist, a gilder, painters and sculptors, a
jewellery designer, a photographer, a potter, an upholsterer-decorator, a dressmaker
and an artistic collective that organises regular events. All the workshops are open at
least from April to December, on the first and third weekends of the month, from Friday
to Saturday. Entrance free.
Artistic and totally modern: a whole gallery of picturesque characters will accompany
you on your walk through Trévoux and the neighbouring towns, thanks to the smartphone
application “L’eau et les hommes” (“Water and People”), available in French and
English.
A new visitors’ area at the Musée Ferme de la Forêt
A farmyard/museum where visitors can discover some of the animals of the farm: ducks,
geese, a cock and Bresse chickens, next to a farmhouse with a Saracen chimney, to the
north-west of Bourg-en-Bresse.
From past to preseNt : BressaN craFts
several traditional crafts are still practiced and contribute to the reputation of the region!
two clog-makers maintain the ancestral know-how of wooden clog manufacture and keep
this dying art alive in their workshop and with demonstrations at the farm museums or at local
festivals.
several craftsmen keep the tradition of Bresse furnishings going: made from different woods
and decorated with motifs based on local flora, they include essential furnishing such as
cupboards, dressers and clocks. Workshops and antique shops are open to the public to show
off these skills.
the manufacture of enamels dates back to the middle-ages and adopted a specific style
in Bresse in the 19th C. today only one enameller remains, in Bourg-en-Bresse, where – while
respecting tradition – he creates new and modern designs. A film can be shown in the shop for
better understanding of the art: the workshop opens its doors just twice a year.
Today, only one artisan enameller still works in Bourg-en-Bresse. While respecting
tradition, he also creates new and more modern lines. A film can be watched
in-store to better understand his art. The workshop is occasionally open to the public,
in particular during the company’s open day in March. To reward this traditional
know-how, the Entreprise du patrimoine vivant label has been awarded to Emaux
Bressans Jeanvoine.