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Between Bresse and Dombes, you often spend more time at the table than at the driving range! These little-known areas boast some magnificent golf courses, including Gouverneur, La Bresse, La Sorelle and La Commanderie. They complement each other perfectly, while their restaurants rival each other in flavour and pleasure. It's enough to make the Ain a benchmark!
In the Dombes region, the land of a thousand ponds, the Golf du Gouverneur winds its way through forests and lakes. In 1989, Didier Fruchet designed 45 holes between Le Breuil, Montaplan and La Soche.
At the end of the 90s, the Dalloz family, Jurassiens involved in cutting stones for the jewellery industry and already owners of the La Bresse golf course, bought the resort. After drainage, sandblasting and pruning, the courses have been restored to their former glory. On the Breuil, the highlight is played from the 14th to the 16th, the Amen corner of the Ain, where the grass melts with the water! On the drier Montaplan, the game is no less delicate. At the table of Alexandre Porceillon, the ace chef of homemade foie gras, farmhouse chicken from the Dombes region, mallard or arctic char fillets, there's plenty to keep the emotions of a day's golf alive!
Since 1990, the Golf de La Bresse has enjoyed the tranquillity of a former hunting reserve.
On this land alternating between clearings and forest, dotted with a multitude of ponds, frogs and birds take advantage of Jérémy Pern's 90-hectare layout to parade and nest in peace and quiet. On the outward leg, the holes are fairly open. Between the 11th and 12th, as close as you can get to a two-hectare pond, the danger is ever-present. From there, the course narrows in the dense forest. On the way back to the clubhouse, the fairway on 18, separated from 9 by a hedge planted with trees, looks good. There's time for one last birdie before heading to the table, where the chef puts regional produce to good use in this land of good food.
Located between the Dombes and Bugey regions, Golf de la Sorelle was founded in 1991 by Patrick Jacquier. Since 2014, when it was bought by Philippe Venditelli, a businessman from Lyon, the club has been enjoying a second lease of life.
With a fairly pronounced relief, wooded areas, a few water hazards and well-defended greens, the course has plenty of character. From the 10th, the Château de Richemont - a 13th-century fortress - comes into view, as does one of the last poypes in the Ain - a mound of earth topped by a medieval dwelling - from the 3rd and 11th. But the real attraction lies in the renovated 15th-century brick building, which has been converted into a charming clubhouse and hotel opposite the course. Florent Gourves' table is in harmony with the charm of the place, and the taste buds are as delighted as the eyes.
Since 2009, the Commanderie Golf Course- a tribute to the Templars of the 11th and 12th centuries - inaugurated in 1964 on the grounds of the Château de l'Aumusse, has been looking great with its new holes. The original layout, designed by Michael Fenn and Claude Soulés - a former club pro - has been adapted to suit urban constraints.
Situated between Mâcon and Bourg-en-Bresse, on gently sloping ground with small greens, a few out-of-bounds areas, water hazards and lots of trees to give volume to the layout, La Commanderie is pleasant even if the design is not very long. At the clubhouse restaurant, the glasses are clinking merrily! Wine enthusiast Olivier Ballufin - the club's manager - offers more than 750 Beaujolais, Burgundy, Côtes-du-Rhône and Médoc wines at reasonable prices. It's a wine list that's a good substitute for birdies...
What could be more pleasant in the morning than jumping from bed to tee? That's the case at the Hôtel du Gouverneur****, whose 53 rooms overlook the courses, whether you're staying in the former stables of the Château du Breuil or in the more contemporary wing surrounded by greenery. Since 2020 and the arrival of Laure Dalloz - the 3rd generation of the Dalloz family - as general manager of the Domaine, the emphasis has been on golf packages including overnight accommodation, breakfast and a green fee valid on the three courses at Le Breuil, Montaplan or La Bresse, the other club in the Dalloz group. A graduate of the Lausanne hotel school, Laure wanted to highlight the resort's attractions, beyond its 45 holes, and its surroundings. Bike rides, musical evenings, the Parc des Oiseaux... activities that have created a dynamic on the site. The clubhouse table is shared with the hotel table, except at breakfast, so you can enjoy your stay in harmony with the course.
The ‘everything on site’ concept is also alive and kicking at the Hôtel du Golf de la Sorelle***, a luxury, or at least a privilege in this magnificent setting, behind these 500-year-old walls - owned by Seigneur Gravagnosi in the 15th century - in 12 rooms with enchanting names, Augusta, l'Île aux Cerfs, les Flamants roses, le château de Richemont... Between leisure and relaxation, there's plenty of room for fine dining! Florent Gourves has no trouble tempting gourmet palates. While the regional favourites, frogs and poultry, are of course on the menu, the red meats and fish caught nearby will also delight you, either in the dining room or on the terrace overlooking the golf course.
Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne may have been the glory of the Dombes region in the Middle Ages, but this medieval town has managed to evolve and change while preserving its historic heritage. Today, as a tourist destination, the town is proud of its splendour, maintaining its corbelled houses and cobbled streets and showcasing them to their best advantage, well aware of the richness of its past. In fine weather, first thing on Saturday morning, under the elegant covered market halls - with their 15th-century wooden framework - the market comes alive.
The stalls take shape, coloured red by the tomatoes, green by the salads, golden by the onions, while the chickens begin to roast on the spit. At a time when the most valiant of the merchants are attacking the petit blanc, the live poultry market can be heard from afar. In their openwork crates, ducks, chickens and geese wait to change hands as children watch in amazement. It's a friendly place, where you can linger and stroll, and leave with a shopping bag full of goodies. Châtillon is also a town in bloom. Everyone decorates their balconies and houses, and the town's bridges span the Chalaronne, a tributary of the Saône. The play of light in the changing skies makes for a shimmering spectacle. Seduced by the town's old-fashioned charm, many craftsmen have taken up residence in old houses, ideal for working and living locally. From antique bookbinders and stained-glass restorers to jewellery designers, ceramists, potters and blacksmiths, they are all approachable, passionate about their craft and the lifeblood of the village.
In Villars-les-Dombes, in the heart of the lakes, the Parc des Oiseaux is a unique place to observe birds from all over the world. Of the more than 250 species of birds in the park, around sixty are threatened worldwide. For more than 50 years, over a 35-hectare area, more than 2,000 birds have flown through the park, which was created by veterinary surgeon Dr Jean Saint-Cyr to protect the Ain's birdlife and raise visitors' awareness of the fragility of these species. The park's educational vocation gives visitors an insight into the job of animal caretaker. From preparing meals to feeding chicks and maintaining living spaces. The park is open every day from early April to mid-November.
If Lyon is regarded as the capital of French gastronomy, it owes a great deal to the fame of Paul Bocuse, who passed on his passion and talent for over half a century, but also to the quality of its regional produce. The Ain is a land of gastronomy. And when it comes to culinary delights, Bresse poultry is at the top of the list. As early as the 16th century, it was listed in the Bourg-en-Bresse registers. In 1825, Brillat-Savarin, in his book ‘The Physiology of Taste’, described it as the ‘Queen of Poultry, the Poultry of Kings’. Since 1957, its designation has been controlled by an association chaired by Georges Blanc, a man who knows how to sublimate it.
At his Michelin-starred restaurant in Vonnas, his supreme of Bresse poularde with morel mushrooms and asparagus accompanied by a yellow wine sabayon is mouth-watering. Mère Brazier and Paul Bocuse's 'demi-deuil' Bresse poularde, truffled under the skin before cooking, is also well worth a visit in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, the home of 'Monsieur Paul'. In the Ain region, nearly a hundred renowned restaurants work with Bresse PDO poultry. So there's something for everyone, whatever their budget.
Where Bresse has its poultry, the Dombes has its frogs! The marshes reclaimed in the 19th century created a multitude of ponds where amphibians soon found their home. Unfortunately, the over-exploitation of Dombes frogs has meant that hunting them has been banned since 1980.
While the little creatures now come from further afield, waiting for raniculture - frog farming - to find its place in the Dombes, grandma's recipes remain, to the delight of gourmets. It's impossible to cross the Dombes without getting your fingers wet with a pan-fried frog in parsley sauce! Floured, the frogs' legs are browned in clarified butter before being pan-fried with garlic and parsley. Given the strength of the condiment, a dry white wine is recommended to accompany the dish. From the Loire Valley to Burgundy, the Jura and Alsace, a wide range of grape varieties are available to enhance the slightly fatty texture of the meat, while resisting the persistence of the garlic. All in all, a dish that's easy to prepare, convivial to share and reasonably priced.
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