Pipangaille

Pipangaille enjoys an excellent about 100m from the Rhone river, and on the ViaRhona cycle path. It serves well as both a stopover for those on the Route de Soleil, or as a good base for those wishing to explore the area - Peaugres Safari park, the Ardeche, Vercours, Tain l'Hermitage and the numerous wine growers in the St Joseph and Cotes du Rhone regions. It is less than one hours drive from Lyon, and enjoys slightly better weather. For this reason, I have stayed a Pipangaille a few times when visiting the region, the last time being because it was a good location for visiting both Lyon and St Etienne for the Euro 2016 football. We even did a day trip to Marseille ! The top floor of this beautiful house has been converted to house 5 individually themed guestrooms. The air-conditioned rooms are modern, clean and very comfortable, each with their own shower, free wifi and tea/coffee facilities. There is also some public area - a sitting room with lots of information on the local area, and a fridge and microwave for guest use. The wooden window shutters are very effective in darkening the room for a good night's sleep, despite the early morning French sunlight! Breakfast is an ample range of pastries and breads, with locally produced fruit juices and jams, some fruit, melon and ham. When we were here last, the weather was perfect, and breakfast was served outside. The garden is very pretty, and there is a swimming pool, summer room, and hammock ! There is ample car parking on site, which was secured during the night, and there is garaging for bikes and trikes. The hosts, Bruno and Marie-Claire, are lovely people and do everything they can to make you feel most welcome. There are some fine walks in the area - the lovely village of Andance with its old suspension bridge over the Rhone is a short walk away. The nearest town is St Vallier. Some evenings we spent outside in the warm, sampling the local wine and eating some simple food prepared from the garden with the other guests. It was very relaxing and peaceful, even when some of our fellow guests were football supporters from a rival country ! Seriously, this is the place to unwind....... Points to consider : There is no TV in the rooms. There is wifi, and the lack of TV wasn't a problem for us. The rooms are all located on the top floor, accessed by a number of steps and then a single (straight) staircase. If stairs are a problem for you, then you should consider this. Credit cards were not currently accepted at the time of our stay.