The End of the Week in the Isere

  Thursday morning we took a walk into the center of the village to stop at the boucherie and pick up something to have as part of lunch. On the way we spied the friendly orange and white cat that we had seen late yesterday, but this time I had brought the camera. The cat was behind a fence and some shrubs, but she squeezed under the fence and greeted us, and I managed to get some photos. We continued on to the butcher shop, then stopped at a farm in town that sells milk, cream and cheese, and we bought some cheese.

     Afterwards we decided to visit the somewhat large town of La Cote Saint Andre, about 25 minutes from Baucroissant, driving through some small villages on the way. La Cote Saint Andre is known for being the birthplace of the composer Hector Berlioz, and the house he was born in has been converted into a museum celebrating his life and works.  We went through the museum, and took a look at the beautiful interior courtyard.

        After leaving La Cote Saint Andre we returned to the gite to have lunch.  Since we were running out of time in Beaucroissant we took a look at the map and some booklets to figure out what we wanted to see this afternoon and tomorrow. There were several towns in the mountainous Vercors Park that we wanted to see, but we decided to save them for tomorrow, since the weather looked like it would be more promising then.  Instead we decided to go to Saint Antoine l'Abbaye, a village that is another one of the classified Plus Beaux Villages, and also has a well-known former abbey.

     Saint Antoine certainly deserves its Plus Beaux Villages designation, and the abbey was impressive. We spent a couple of hours walking through the village and touring the interior of the former abbey, including the massive church and a museum which details the history of the abbey and the order of Saint Antoine.

Gate to the Abbey

Abbey Church

Church From the Lower Village

   After leaving Saint Antoine we drove back to Beaucroissant on back roads, avoiding the major roads during rush hour.  We had dinner at the gite, which included a bottle of Mondeuse Blanche from Domaine Philippe Grisard, as well as the Verdesse we had opened at lunch, as we tried to make a dent in our wine purchases.

     On Friday, our last full day in the Isere, we headed to the Vercors Regional Park to visit several villages that I had read about.  The first stop was Cognin-les-Gorges, a beautiful village which leads to the Gorges du Nan. We parked near the center of the village and walked upwards through the streets and towards the gorges, stopping to admire the turrets of an old church and a small bridge. Along the way we met a friendly cat, which we later saw down at the bottom of the village near where we were parked.

    After leaving Cognin we drove to Pont-en-Royans, a larger village on the Isere River. We parked outside the center and walked through the Grand Rue and up some small streets into the upper part of the town.  Since it was a little past noon we decided to have a picnic along the banks of the Isere with some provisions we had brought with us and some that we picked up in town. We decided to picnic on the opposite side of the river from the center of town, since from that spot there were great views of the houses perched over the Isere.

         After our picnic we stopped in the village of La Sone, which is also on the Isere River.  La Sone looked like it was a little down on its heels, but there was a charming little park next to an old tower, and an imposing church with a 12th century clock tower.

    Our last stop of the day was the village of Beauvoir-en-Royans, which is the site of the ruins of a medieval chateau, as well as a former Carmelite convent.  While not much of the chateau remains, what does exist gives one an idea of how massive the building must have been.

      After leaving Beauvoir-en-Royans we drove back to our gite and started to get things together for the return trip. Tomorrow morning we leave Beaucroissant to finish our trip where it began -- in the town of Cremieu.