Attractions and Places To See around Chozeau - Top 20

In January 1847, an investigation was opened into projects towards Geneva, Besançon, Dôle-Châlons. In 1850, the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry adopted the project for a rail link from Lyon to Chambéry via Saint Genis sur Guiers. Applications to operate this line were rejected until 1877. The work lasted 4 years, financed in part by Belgian capital. The inauguration took place on October 9, 1881, and the first train ran on October 30. The line started from the Gare de l'Est (Avenue Félix Faure) and ended at Sablonnières. It had 16 stations and 3 stops over a distance of 72 Kms. Passenger traffic increased from 4 daily round trips in 1897 to 8 in 1935. A passenger took 40 minutes on the 6:35 AM train to travel from Lyon to Pont de Chéruy and 34 minutes to return to Lyon on the 7:23 PM train. Despite everything, the line was closed to passengers in December 1938, then reopened from September 1939 to December 31, 1947. VFD (Voie Ferrée du Dauphiné) coaches took over between Crémieu and Lyon; Freight traffic supplied the main industries (Grammont in Pont de Chéruy and Vicat in Bouvesse) as well as the various industrial zones. The network served 70 private sidings. At its peak in 1935, 1,000,000 tons transited through this line. The decision by the cement factories to no longer use the rail in 1978 was to deal it a "fatal" blow. In 1980, during its last year, 540,244 tons (including 150,130 of scrap metal) were still transported. In 2001, CoUrLy (Urban Community of Lyon) and the General Council of the Rhône adopted a decision to reactivate passenger traffic on part of the route of the Est line. The objective is to connect Lyon to Saint Exupéry airport.

Cool ruins! We really like them. 🤩

Beautiful little town, quite touristy, but worth the detour

Fallavier Castle is an old fortified castle, part of the heritage.

Although first mentioned in 1540, the Cingle fortified house was undoubtedly built in the second half of the 14th century by the Pèlerin family. Originally composed of a main tower and a wing back to the west, it perhaps originally included a curtain wall. During the 15th century, the south wing was extended towards the west, a main building comprising a lower room and an upper room was attached to the north of the main tower, while a turret occupied on the first floor by an oratory and on the second by a dovecote is built to the east, projecting. A wing including the kitchen on the ground floor is also built at right angles to the north of the courtyard. The farm itself retains some architectural elements dating from the 16th century. Source: Ministry of Culture

The Bienassis fortified house, built by the Vallin family at the end of the 14th century, was organized around an enclosed courtyard and included a pavilion surrounded by watchtower turrets. The current building was completed in 1897 for Casimir Gournet, who wanted to give the old feudal residence the appearance of a medieval castle. Alphonse de Lamartine made several stays in Bienassis with his friend Nicolas Prosper Guichard, between 1804 and 1808. The castle, built of limestone rubble, consists of an L-shaped building covered with a long-pitched roof covered with mechanical tiles extended to the south by a high quadrangular tower with a porch in the work. The north wing has four levels of elevation: three cellars on the basement floor, a square floor and an attic floor. The tower rises on three levels: a ground floor with ribbed vaults and two square floors, the buildings are crowned with false machicolation. The corner turrets are covered with conical slate roofs. The stained glass windows of the ground floor living room are decorated with two bust-length women and two bust-length men in rondels. The coat of arms of the Joubert de Montlevon family can be found on one of the windows of the first living room on the ground floor. In the library, two shields with scrolling scroll motifs, a shield decorated with three female heads, a shield decorated with a passing griffin, and a shield decorated with two hammers with the initials C G for Casimir Gournet adorn the windows. Source: Châteaux de France

The Chemin de fer de l'Est de Lyon (CFEL) is a former French secondary railway network with standard gauge located partly in the Rhône department and partly in the Isère department and which connected the Gare de Lyon-Est to Aoste-Saint-Genix via Crémieu, Saint-Hilaire de Brens (Turnoff for the Jallieu antenna) and Soleymieu-Sablonnière (Turnoff for the Montalieu antenna). After a gradual end of operation until December 2003, the area of the line between Lyon-Part-Dieu station and Meyzieu Z.I. was transformed to allow line T3 of the Lyon tramway to run there, and the Rhônexpress shuttle to Saint-Exupéry airport. Note for the latter, that from the Meyzieu ZI, the track leaves the former CFEL right-of-way to head south towards the airport.

Can be seen from afar and a detour is worthwhile here.