Our base
An historical wood mill in a quiet corner of St.Jean-en-Royans
An historical wood mill in a quiet corner of St.Jean-en-Royans
Located in a quiet corner in the town of St.Jean-en-Royans within walking distance of shops, cafes and restaurants, the setting is an historical former wood mill incorporating the original house (our private residence), three self-catering gites, (rural cottages) one BnB room, a barn (Grange), splash pool, canal and a beautiful garden.
All our accommodation are named after our favourite local climbs. Our Self-Catering Gites: Tourniol, Limouches and Combe Laval have modern shower rooms, well equipped kitchens and comfortable beds. Each one has a private terrace and BBQ and are situated alongside a gentle flowing, freshwater canal with a backdrop of the Vercors massif.
Our three B&B rooms with en-suite bathrooms comprise 2 x 2 twin beds and 1 x double bed. Each have independent front door access, modern bathrooms and comfortable beds. We rent them on a minimum of a 3 night stay. Our delicious self-service breakfast includes 'home made' muesli/cereals, yoghurt, fresh fruit, jams, fresh bread and pastries, coffee and tea. It is laid out in our large, comfortable barn (grange) looking over our flower filled garden.
We also offer a room only for those guests who prefer to make their own breakfast in the kitchen facilities in our comfortable barn (grange).
The Grange is the hub of Velo Vercors where guests relax, eat and socialise. We've filled it with comfortable sofas, a communal eating area, TV, music system and a stocked fridge of beers and wine (honesty box), making it a perfect place to spent time off the bike.
It also incorporates a basic kitchen with guest fridge, 2 ring electric hob and all the utensils for our B&B guests to make simple meals. The kitchen facilities and the large communal BBQ also works really well for groups who want to eat together.
As well as cycling, gardening is a passion and much time and love has been put into making the Velo Vercors garden beautiful for our guests to share. The flower beds bursting with perennials and herbs whafting their heady scents into the air from spring to autumn can be enjoyed while lounging in the many sun loungers dotted throughout the garden. The cherry and persimmon trees offers a shady area to relax while the large grassed area catches the sunshine for most of the day. And as the sun starts to set the high bank beside the canal is a perfect place for an aperitif to watch the sun go down.
We are so fortunate to have fresh mountain water flowing into the canal running alongside the gites and garden from which we fill by gravity the splash pool and outside shower, as well as water the vegetable patch and garden. Historically, the water from the canal was used to turn the turbines to produce electricity for the wood mill and we live in one of the very few properties in St.Jean with 'water rights' granted in Napoleonic times. The water flows around and below the gites and the house to feed the organic trout farm next door where you can buy direct for a wonderful fish supper.
We are fortunate enough to be able to fill the pool with fresh mountain water from the canal. Perfect for a dip after a ride and not as cold as the canal.
We live in the main house built at the end of the 19th century, originally used as a storage building for the wooden items made in the mill. It was one of many wood mills in the region and only stopped production in the 1970's. The previous owners converted the top floor into bedrooms over 40 years ago and we have continued to renovate and make changes over the years. From here we are on hand to welcome guests, available to advise and suggest routes and to make sure your holiday is going well.
Tourniol is 1 of our 2 bedroom gites accommodating 4 people:
Limouches is the 2nd of our 2 bedroom gites accommodating 4 people:
Combe Laval is our 3 bedroom gite accommodating a maximum of 6 people :
Rousset is a twin room with en-suite BnB with own front door leading from the garden.
Pionnier is a twin BnB room with ensuite bathroom with own front door and direct access from the garden.
Bataille is our BnB room with a double bed. It also has a double pull down sofa bed.
The 'hub' of Velo Vercors to relax, eat and socialise
The house, gites and grange were all part of the wood mill created towards the end of the 19th Century strategically built along the canal utilising the water source flowing from the Vercors and the wood from the forest of Lente. It was one of many wood mills in the area supplying other local businesses and those further afield in the cities of Lyon and Valence. The water from the canal turned 2 turbines - one still remaining in the grange, to create electricity which powered the tools to cut and fashion the wood. Originally, the house was a office/storage area and the gites was one long storage room up until the previous owners made them into gites. The grange was the main work area producing 'draw liners' and other wood products. We believe the mill closed down during the 70's and was then purchased by the Felix family where Mr. Felix made leather shoes and then converted the storage area into the gites.
And our on site facilities offers everything you need for a great cycling holiday on and off the bike:
We are also a 5 minute walk to the town centre with a good choice of restaurants, cafes, local boutique shops and a weekly market.
A quiet corner beside the canal
pre-dinner drinks in the grange. Cheers!
A view of the courtyard from the grange
A rose arbour
Garden in full bloom
View of splash pool and vegetable plot from the top slope
Pop up canal bar
View of lounge from front door
View of the lounge leading to kitchen
Side view of Tourniol gite
Bathroom with shower and sink (sorry, but its very difficult to get a good shot!)
Double bed room downstairs
Open plan kitchen/dining area
View from front door to dining table and window looking over front garden
Upstairs twin room
View of our 3 gites with Limouches in the middle
door from garden into room
Twin room looking towards door leading to garden
BnB bathroom
View of beds from the door leading to the garden
The view outside from the garden
View towards door and garden
Bathroom
View of room from door leading to garden
Super comfortable double bed with pull down sofa bed
View from bed to door and en-suite bathroom
View from sofa bed to door
Early evening drinks
Guests preparing an evening meal in the grange
A great place to relax and have a glass of vino
The evening sun shining into the grange
An old archived shot showing taken from the top of the road showing the house.
Taken from the bank above the canal showing the house, gites and 2 granges.