Date: 2nd July 2023
Travelled: 140 kms from Baumé-les-Messieurs to Pérouges
Visited: Pérouges
Stayed: Pérouges Parking, free, N45.90570, E05.17530
Budget: 40 days @ €95 per day
We were a little concerned that our free parking place may be a little noisy as people departed later in the evening, but the rain started about 6 pm, thirty minutes later the car park was empty and we enjoyed a quiet night.
The rain started again about 7 am but promptly stopped and cleared by 8.30 so we thought we better explore Pérouges whilst we can.
From our guide book the Most Beautiful Villages in France you’ll find Pérouges on page 122. Pérouges overlooks the River Ain, it’s situated in the north of the Rhône Valley.
Pérouges, Belley, Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Metropolitan France, 01800, France
As you can see from the map above and the pictures below Pérouges was a fortified village. It has a written history going back a thousand years. It was considered a craftsmen and linen weavers village and very prosperous. According to the blurb the Église Marie-Madeleine (the Forteresse) as the name suggests was fortified as part of the village defences.
Wandering about we find a hotel kitchen with a pop out window selling Pérouges Galette for €2 a slice, so why not. Looked like a pizza but sweet with a citrus tange, very nice.
On our second try we find the Église is open so we pop in for a quick pre-mass snoop around. I should have taken a picture but the church has several firing slits on the outer walls, never seen that before.
Last photo is Pérouges’ lucky lime tree or what the French call a lime tree. It has stood in the village square for more than 200 years and according to legend brings the village prosperity.
Our followers with note we have now visited several of these classified villages and to date Pérouges is the ‘most beautiful’. So that was our morning in Pérouges, then the short drive down to do our washing in Meximieux.
Michael + Pam
2 thoughts on “Pérouges, France 🇫🇷 2023”
What an exquisite place 👌 drove past on the d1084 and missed out
Safe travels Johannes ❤️
Looks very quaint with those little cobblestone streets.