"Your house is so comfortable we just flopped for the week."

MK, Putney

St Just d'Avraycanoeing at Lac des Sapinshorse riding available locallySt Just d'AvraySt Just d'Avray valley

Local area

The village of St Just d’Avray is situated in Beaujolais Vert, the ‘green Beaujolais’ region of France which is just under an hour to the north west of Lyon. It is a short drive away from the beautiful Lac des Sapins which offers a wonderful choice of activities for families … swimming, water sports; water slide, sailing (including kayaking and canoeing); horse riding; obstacle course, bikes for hire, walks, bars and restaurant and a sandy beach.

There are many beautiful walks around St Just D’Avray and surrounding areas. Details and maps can be found in the house. There are tennis courts at the entrance to the village which can be hired on a daily basis for a small charge.

The nearest larger towns are Villefranche Sur Saone (thirty five minutes to the east) and Amplepuis (a fifteen minute drive to the west).

Villefranche Sur Saone has a wonderful selection of shops and boutiques, an excellent covered local produce market (meat, fish, cheese, fruit, wine, honey and vegetables), cinema, bowling alley and a wide variety of excellent cafés and restaurants. There are several golf courses in the area.

Amplepuis has a large supermarket, a variety of shops, cafes and restaurants and a weekly fresh produce market.

The region

The famous vineyards of Beaujolais (eg Morgon, Fleurie and Brouilly) are in the North West of the region (department 69, Rhônes Alpes), where you can buy wines at the cellar door or visit the Georges Duboeuf wine museum. There are many pretty towns to explore including Vaux en Beaujolais where Clochmerle was filmed. 

France’s second city, Lyon, is just under an hour’s drive away with some of the country’s finest restaurants, designer shops and a canalside antiques market. On the two rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, boat tours and river restaurant barges are popular in the summer.