Leisure, tourist and cultural activities

Vallée de la Drôme agenda

What to do on the spot

• Admire the landscape: I can assure you that even after many years, I still say: “it is so beautiful!”
• Do nothing at all in the garden chairs and deckchairs.
• Play outside in the large garden: you will find games such as pétanque (a typical French game of bowls) and croquet, and toys for children: swings, a wooden car, balls…
• Play inside: you will find board games, games for children, and books for children and adults.
• Hike straight from the gîtes: several forest paths start right next to the house. Fossil lovers will find ammonites (on the paths) and belemnites (in the marls).

What to do close by

(Tourist documentation is available in the gîtes)

• Bathing in the rivers: the Drôme (15 min), the Roanne (30 min) and the Gervanne (30 min) on the Vallée de la Drôme side, and the Roubion on the Drôme Provençale side.
• Hiking: Les 3 Becs (ridges on the most beautiful perched syncline in Europe), the Couspeau mountain, the GR9, the “Sur les Pas des Huguenots” trail (following the Huguenots’ exile in the 17th century), the Forêt de Saoû (at the heart of the syncline).
• Discovering the marls, especially those at the Col de La Chaudière. They are a wonderful playground for children, where you will find belemnites (sea fossils shaped like suppositories!).
• Cycling: the “La Drôme à vélo” cycle route, or mountain biking on the paths (a tour to the Gorges de Saint-Moirans starts from the gîtes).
• Rock climbing on the slopes of the syncline and in the Gorges de Saint-Moirans.
• Canoeing on the Drôme (with Eva location, Canoë-Drôme or Yvan-loisirs-canoë).
• Via ferrata (Eva location).
• Hiking with donkeys (Tzin’âne randos, in Bourdeaux).
• Swimming pools in Bourdeaux (the public pool and the pool at the Bois du Châtelas campsite – 30 min) and in Crest (30 min).
• Tennis in Saillans (15 min) and Crest (30 min).
• Plane and glider flights in Aubenasson (15 min).
• Paragliding in Bézaudun-sur-Bîne (17 min).
• Hot-air balloon flights in Soyans (36 min).
• Horse riding in Saillans (15 min), Aouste (25 min) and Mornans (30 min).

Local activities you may enjoy!

• À fleur d’âne: hikes with a donkey and storytelling walks: getting to know donkeys, nature observation, tales and legends. Half-day, full day or multi-day trips; families with children from age 3. afleurdane.org – 06 80 45 06 67 – Beaufort-sur-Gervanne.
• La Rose et le Chaudron: workshops on making herbal teas, syrups, jellies… from aromatic plants. laroseetlechaudron.fr – Hélène Boulay – 06 84 14 20 39 – [email protected].
• Cuisine sensible: vegetarian / wild-food cooking classes in Cobonne. cuisinesensible.fr – 07 68 56 66 89 – [email protected].
• Galgal-escapade: hikes and bivouacs with family or friends. galgal-escapade.com – Hugues Fertin – 06 47 76 09 19 – [email protected].
• Chemins, a travel agency in Mission: discover the Drôme by electric bike, electric scooter or electric méhari – micro-adventures of 2 to 3 days. chemins.voyage – 09 73 88 44 45.
• Cazba: a poetic treasure hunt to discover the village of Mirabel with a backpack full of riddles (2 hours) – shaded open-air café by the Drôme (La Poule à Facettes – Piégros-la-Clastre) – summer only. cazba.art – 06 95 80 95 99 – [email protected].
• Archijeux: a community board-game café in the Drôme – rue Archinard in Crest. archijeux.org – 04 75 84 65 09 – [email protected].
• Les Fleurs de May: plant workshops – making a balm, a syrup… at the Ancien Monastère de Sainte-Croix. lesfleursdemay.fr – Lise May Viment – 06 71 83 98 14 – [email protected].

These businesses are partners of the network of eco-lodgings started by Biovallée, a network I belong to.

Local festivities

• Fête Médiévale (medieval days) in Crest, beginning of June
• “Saoû chante Mozart” festival (Mozart music) in Saoû, from the end of June to mid-July
• Fête du Picodon (local cheese) in Saoû, mid-July
• “Nouvelles du Conte” festival (short-story festival) in Bourdeaux, end of July – beginning of August
• “Crest Jazz Vocal” festival in Crest, beginning of August
• Medieval day “La légende d’Alberte de Poitiers” in Bourdeaux, on the weekend of 15 August
• Foire aux fruits d’hiver (winter-fruit fair) in Saoû, mid-November

And further away:

• Festival Bach en Drôme des collines (Bach music, in the Drôme des Collines region, north Drôme): organ of the collegiate church in Saint-Donat, mid-July
• Les Fêtes nocturnes du château de Grignan (theatre in Grignan castle): July and August

What to do during your stay

For children

• La Magnanerie (silkworm farm) in Saillans (15 min)
• Tour Médiévale (medieval tower) in Crest (30 min)
• Le Jardin aux Oiseaux (bird zoo) in Upie (30 min)
• Jardin des Papillons (butterfly garden) in Die (38 min)
• Aquarium des Tropiques in Allex (39 min)
• La Cité du chocolat Valrhona (chocolate museum) in Tain-l’Hermitage (1h12)
• Le Monde merveilleux des Lutins (playground) in Hostun (1h15)
• La Ferme aux Crocodiles (crocodile zoo) in Pierrelatte (1h25)
• Parc safari (the largest zoo in the region) in Peaugres (1h38)

Local artists and craftspeople

• In Saoû (30 min): in front of some houses, you will find a black pebble with a red pebble on a stem above it. This means the artist or craftsperson belongs to the association “Désirs des Arts”:
  • Tournicoti, Joss Naigeon, woodturner
  • La Forêt des Chapeaux, Carole Pervier, milliner
  • Aurélie Lamour, photographer
  • Cécile Arnaud, jeweller
  • Terre à peau, Adélaïde Motte, potter
• In Crest (30 min):
  • Biloubila, Birgit Kirkamm, felt artist. You can see and buy her work at Girouette in Crest and at Brins de terroir in Vaunaveys-la-Rochette (on the road to Romans, outside Crest – 35 min)
  • Poterie du Donjon, Bérengère Croizy and Nicolas Kuczma, stoneware and raku, 3 rue Sainte-Euphémie (montée de l’Hôpital) (you can see and buy their work on the spot and at Brins de terroir)
  • Girouette, local art and crafts shop, rue Maurice Long
  • Brins de Terroir, local craftspeople and producers, Vaunaveys-la-Rochette (on the road to Romans from Crest)
• In Bourdeaux (25 min):
  • Patrick Chaix, visual artist
  • Terre d’Amandine, potter
  • AB Créations, Bruno Ayzac, sculptor in stone, wood…

Local culture and heritage

• Magnanerie (silkworm farm), Saillans (15 min)
• Réserve naturelle nationale des Ramières (the Ramières nature reserve, by the Drôme river), Eurre (35 min)
• Maison de la céramique (ceramics), Dieulefit (40 min)
• Musée d’histoire et d’archéologie (history and archaeology museum), Die (40 min)
• Musée du Protestantisme dauphinois (museum of the history of local Protestantism), Poët-Laval (50 min)
• Pottery in Cliousclat (55 min)
• Musée international de la chaussure (international shoe museum), Romans (1h10)
• Châteaux de la Drôme (Drôme castles): Grignan (1h), Montélimar (1h05), Suze-la-Rousse (1h20)
• Le Palais idéal du facteur Cheval (Postman Cheval’s Ideal Palace), Hauterives (1h40)

And also discover the Vercors region (gorges, Choranche cave, viewpoints, Memorial of the Resistance during WWII…) or the Drôme Provençale (Nyons, Dieulefit, Grignan, Montélimar, Buis-les-Baronnies…).