Serenity in Saillans

Now that October has come around, I am finally having to accept that my year abroad isn’t just a year-long holiday as I start my course at university. As I am sat here on my first Toulousain rainy Sunday encountering the confusing world of French admin, I can’t help but wish I could rewind to my recent country getaway to the alps…

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that being on a year abroad with your half-French best friend has many perks. With her having family dotted around the country, it meant that I was recently lucky enough to join her visiting her grandparents in the beautiful town of Saillans.

Tucked away in the Rhône-Alps region, it’s unlikely that you will have heard of this little town, but its peaceful nature is what made this getaway so special! I wanted to share some of the things we got up to during our time there to show off this gorgeous petite Ville…

Took in the view

Don’t get me wrong, I love being in the city. But sometimes you do miss having those countryside views. And when it comes to gorgeous landscapes, France’s views are second to none! I think I spent most of my time at the house just sat there in awe of its location.

Surrounded by pine trees, open spaces and a horizon encompassed by mountains, I couldn’t get my head around the fact that this was someone’s everyday home. Toulouse is picturesque at times too, but there’s something about the view of the roadworks going on outside my balcony that doesn’t quite match up to their back-garden landscape…

EXPLORED THE TOWN

Being the petite Ville that it is, it didn’t take all that long to explore Saillans. Nevertheless, you know what they say…good things come in small packages! There were so many cute little buildings and streets here, it’s easy to see why my friend’s grandparent’s love it so much!

WENT FOR A DIP IN LA DRÔME

I don’t think I’ve seen water as clear as this for a while. Running through the heart of the town is a river called La Drôme. Flowing through a vast, white pebbled beach, this river is the perfect spot for relaxing, cooling off, or other activities such as canoeing. Even if you’re not a water baby, this place is worth going to just for the view!

We were really lucky with the weather the entire time we were there, so we were able to spend a lot of time detoxing here in the sweet September sunshine.

ATE, ATE…AND THEN ATE SOME MORE

As everyone knows, it’s impossible to visit a grandparent without coming home two dress sizes bigger than you were before. We ate SO MUCH good food over the time we spent in Saillans. But not only this, we were lucky enough to be treated to a Michelin star meal to celebrate my friend’s 21st!

This was my first ever ‘proper posh’ meal and it’s safe to say it was an amazing experience! Never in my life have I had so many different courses for one meal…including a cheese CHARIOT.

Just, wow.

SOAKED UP THE LOCAL CULTURE, QUITE LITERALLY

As we all know, France is famous for its wines and champagnes. Each region has their own speciality, and Saillans is where we discovered Clairette (aka my new favourite drink).

Sweeter than champagne and lighter than wine, we had Clairette every day as an apéritif, and quite frankly, I’m obsessed.

Being from the region, we were able to visit the shop/museum that shows how the drink is made which was an interesting experience. It’s not every day that alcohol links to culture!

So there’s a roundup of everything I got up to in Saillans! I genuinely had the best time and feel so lucky that I was able to go there: for a moment it had me never wanting to go back to city life!

For anyone looking for a shorter, peaceful getaway, then I would definitely recommend visiting here!

Do you have any other small towns you could recommend to me?