The Three Saints countryside

From the ST-JEAN D'AVELANNE town hall, follow the yellow signs and the following signposts:
Chemin du Melet > La Brancha > Le Bapt > Crête de la Sauge > La Sauge > Sacré-Coeur > L'Antiquaire > Les Forêts > Sacré-Coeur
La Sauge > Sacré-Coeur > L'Antiquaire > Les Forêts > Le Menou > Return to SAINT-JEAN-D'AVELANNE

At the start, notice the beautiful church of Saint-Jean-d'Avelanne with its square tower and exposed stone walls. You'll soon reach the shady Melet path lined with chestnut trees. After the hamlet of La Brancha, the path climbs up into the Valdaine hills.

Once you reach Le Bapt, the landscape opens up to the Chartreuse and Epine mountains. After another climb, look down on the bucolic Ainan valley and the Guiers gorges a little further on your left.

Pass through the hamlet of La Sauge and then follow the meadows where the cows graze. Once in the forest, look out for the Sacré-Coeur site on your left. This statue, erected by parishioners at the end of the 19th century, offers a view over the valley and the Bugey region.

The path along the edge of the forest leads back down to the church, where there is a fresco of the sharing of the cape by Saint Martin to a beggar. The village of Vieux Saint-Jean and the Combe pond round off the route.