The Monts du Lyonnais

Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise

Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise, between 580 and 610 metres above sea level, is framed by the highest points of the range, the Crêt Malherbe and the Signal de Saint-André. In the 11th century, the Counts of Forez built a castle here on the border between the Forez and the Lyonnais, where the church now stands. From 1407, Cardinal Girard, a native of the town, spent much of his fortune turning the church into a Gothic building, and leading families paid for the side chapels in the 15th and 16th centuries; the collegiate church, built on a rocky outcrop, has been a listed historic monument since 1920. The locals, known as the Pelauds, owe their nickname to the tanneries. Place de la Bouterie hosted the Wednesday pig market, and Place du Mézel recalls the old quarter for contagious patients and the paupers' barn where pilgrims stopped on their way to Le Puy-en-Velay. Curing meat still keeps the town going, with the Chillet company, founded in 1912, and the main production site of Cochonou; a local legend even credits a butcher from the area with inventing the saucisson.

Riverie

Riverie covers just 42 hectares, making it the smallest commune in the Rhône and the twelfth smallest in France by area. Perched at 710 metres, the village sits on a forward knoll of the Monts du Lyonnais, above the slopes that drop towards the Gier valley. Its defensive position explains both its age and its compact shape, a few streets of stone houses around the church. The charm lies in the view: from the edge of the plateau, the eye runs to the Pilat hills, the Rhône valley and, on a clear day, the Alps. Its inhabitants, the Rampogniaux, are a small community, and the village is the starting point for several hikes along the ridge leading to the Signal de Saint-André. Riverie can be seen in half an hour, but it rewards lingering at the end of the day, when low light skims the meadows and the lights of greater Lyon come on in the distance.

Hat Workshop-Museum

Chazelles-sur-Lyon, in the Loire, was ceded in 1148 by the Count of Forez to the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, who, legend has it, brought back from the East the technique of felt, a mass of fibres bound together by fulling. Hat-making turned it into a working-class town: in the 1930s, 28 factories employed 2,500 people here. The Atelier-Musée du Chapeau occupies the last factory still in operation, and that is what makes it special: the machines run in front of you, from rabbit fur to felt cone, then on to shaping the hat. The exhibition rooms display more than 400 historic and contemporary hats, including haute couture creations by Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent, drawn from a unique collection of 4,000 pieces. Themed tours round off the visit, with a café and a shop at the exit. The museum opens in the afternoon, daily in summer and autumn, and a lift makes it accessible to visitors with reduced mobility.

Signal de Saint-André

The Signal de Saint-André, at 934 metres, rises on the main ridge of the Monts du Lyonnais, in the commune of Saint-André-la-Côte, some twenty kilometres west of Lyon. It is topped only by the Crêt Malherbe, 946 metres, in Marcenod, whose rounded profile goes largely unnoticed. Its steep outline, emphasised by its commanding position above the Lyonnais slopes, and its mast make it easy to spot from afar. In 1744 the geographer César-François Cassini had a marker stone set up here for his triangulation work while mapping the kingdom of France; it still stands and gave the place its name. The summit also hosts one of the 53 French stations of the national frequency agency, which monitor the radio spectrum. For walkers, it is above all a lookout: the paths climbing up from Saint-André-la-Côte or Riverie open onto sweeping views of greater Lyon, the Pilat, the Monts du Forez and, on a clear day, the Alps.

Roman Gier aqueduct at Chaponost

At 85 kilometres, the Gier aqueduct is the longest of the four aqueducts that supplied Lugdunum, Roman Lyon, and the one with the best-preserved structures. Long attributed to Emperor Claudius, it was dated more precisely after the discovery, in 2018, of formwork timber in the foundations of the Beaunant siphon bridge, dated by dendrochronology to the year 110: its construction goes back to the reign of Trajan and was perhaps completed under Hadrian. Starting from the heights of Saint-Chamond, in the Pilat range, it followed the lie of the plateau through Mornant, Orliénas, Chaponost and Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, crossing the valleys on bridges and siphons. At Chaponost, at the Plat de l'Air site, a listed historic monument since 1900 and restored in 2009 and 2010 thanks to private sponsorship, 72 of the original 92 arches survive; a path designed for visitors with reduced mobility or impaired sight runs alongside them. Further on, at Soucieu-en-Jarrest, another row of arches, the last of which is nicknamed the Camel for its shape, the Garon siphon bridge and the reservoir complete the visit.

Parc de Courzieu

The Courzieu wildlife park, in the Brévenne valley, began with birds of prey before taking in wolves, and it sees its role as conservation, education and fun rather than that of a traditional zoo. The day's programme sets the pace of the visit: marmots, snails and the grey wolves in the late morning, then the great bird-of-prey flight at 14:00, when raptors of many species fly freely above the audience, followed by the white wolves in the afternoon and, on some days, a second flight at 16:00. The bird display runs daily from 1 April to 31 August, then on Wednesdays, weekends and public holidays until 11 November; on other days and in winter, with no flight, a single price of €9.50 applies. Entry costs €18 for adults and €14 for children aged 3 to 12, with a family pack at €59. On site, a restaurant and a grill let you have lunch between shows.