[Sept. 2025] After a meal in Pérouges, one of France‘s most beautiful villages, we enjoyed a stroll around the town.
The village originally developed around a fortress built in the 12th century.
Despite being located on the territory of the prestigious House of Savoy, the town maintained its autonomy and apparently won a war against the House of Savoy in the 15th century.
The town once boasted prosperity, with its textile industry thriving.
Affected by the arrival of the railway and the Industrial Revolution, it gradually declined in the 19th century, and by the early 20th century, parts of it were in ruins.
A revival movement then gained momentum, and the village has maintained its current beauty.
Apparently, there are 80 residents inside the village.
The brochure I bought says that restoration work is still ongoing.
But it’s a small village, after all.
As mentioned before, it was a quiet Tuesday, and most of the places we could go inside and see were closed.
And it was a gloomy day.
I love villages lined with old buildings like these, so I could go back and forth and take photos, but my husband seemed bored, saying, “They’re all the same.”
So we decided to head back to Meximieux, the town with the train station.
I’d looked it up using artificial intelligence (AI) beforehand, and it said there was a train at 3:16 PM, so we planned to take that.
The person at the tourist information centre in Pérouges suggested spending time here, such as having tea and shopping, but when we got there, it was really just a humble provincial town.
It felt like an even smaller version of Dunfermline, Scotland, which we visited a few years ago.
After a break at the bakery on the corner, we headed to the station with plenty of time to spare.
But!
Only when we arrived at the platform did we realize there was no 3:16 train and the next one was at 4:16.
I felt all the more tired.
On the way there, the AI lied to me, too, saying it would be a 15-minute walk from Meximieu to Pérouges, which actually took more than 40 minutes.
AI really can’t be trusted.
I think it’s particularly not precise when asked in Japanese.
We were at a loss as to what to do in this rural town, but there was a Carrefour on the outskirts, so we decided to go in even though we had no business there.
It’s a rather unremarkable rural town, but the people are friendly.
An old man I just passed said something (I understand absolutely no French) and smiled at me.
So, we took the 4:16 train that arrived properly and returned to Lyon.
