Route from Les Peloux to Les Communaux in Peyzieux-sur-Saône

Park in the town hall car park.

(S/E) After noticing the statue of the Virgin Mary in the square, head towards the cemetery. Once you’ve passed the cemetery, turn immediately left onto the path. At the first junction, carry straight on. Then turn left and then right as the path winds in an S-shape through the fields.

(1) At the entrance to the woods, turn right onto the grassy path which leads into the undergrowth and, 200 metres further on, joins a crossroads in the heart of the Bois de la Serve. There, take the path furthest to the right and follow it to a clear, stony track.

(2) Start along the long straight stretch on the left and cross the TGV line bridge. Leave the Bois de Grenouillat and reach the four-way crossroads.

(3) Turn right, cross the farmland and reach the D100 near a rammed-earth farmhouse.

(4) Turn right towards the houses and pass through the hamlet of Simandre. After crossing another bridge over the TGV line, you’ll arrive near the Couant farm. Then, just past it, leave the D100 by taking the first road on the left and continue to the next crossroads.

(5) Turn right onto the tarmac road and head for the hamlet of Maisons Neuves. Turn left at the Y-junction, then carry on straight ahead until you reach the beautiful Fatier farm (dovecote, main building, pedestrian gate and carriage entrance). Continue to the four-way junction.

(6) Turn right, and after crossing the Petite Calonne bridge, begin the Montée du Rapillon (on the right is a public washhouse built in 1913). You’ll reach a four-way junction.

(7) Turn left to begin a U-shaped route that will allow you to explore the village. Ignore the first two streets on the right and follow the^third, then turn right at the next junction. You can admire a beautiful adobe dovecote, some old façades and a cross. When you reach the church, turn left and, at the ‘Stop’ sign, turn right to return to the town hall car park (S/E).

The public toilets and the village’s only water point are located on Place de l’Eglise, near the cemetery.
The nearest picnic areas to Peyzieux are outside the walking route and are located one in Port de Mûre and the other in Genouilleux, both on the banks of the Saône.

This walk is organised by the Val de Saône Centre Tourist Office in collaboration with the FF Randonnée de l’Ain.

57% tarmac.

Vernacular heritage:
Vernacular heritage refers to the characteristic features of popular culture and everyday life: wash houses, wayside crucifixes, or small rural structures such as mills. Peyzieux-sur-Saône is a typical example of a village where vernacular heritage remains very much in evidence thanks to the numerous dovecotes in the commune. Following the Revolution, they became emblematic of peasant dwellings because, no longer reserved for the nobility, they symbolised the end of seigneurial rights.

Earthen dwellings:
Many of the houses in the Val de Saône are built using rammed earth, a method of construction using raw earth.
Rammed earth houses are built using compacted raw earth, sometimes mixed with hay or straw (in which case the term ‘bauge’ or ‘torchis’ is used), and supported by a wooden framework.
A foundation of stone, ‘carron’ (red brick) or pebbles – the material chosen depending on the area – acts as insulation against ground damp. Depending on the financial means of the future inhabitants, this foundation is of varying height.
On the main façade, facing the street, it may be more or less elaborately finished and serve a decorative purpose.