Ain: Bresse Chicken, CERN, and the Jura Foothills
Ain stretches from the plains east of Lyon to the Jura mountains along the Swiss border. Bourg-en-Bresse, the prefecture, is known for poulet de Bresse, the only chicken in France with its own AOC appellation, recognizable by its blue feet, white feathers, and red comb matching the tricolore. The Royal Monastery of Brou, built in the early sixteenth century on the outskirts of Bourg-en-Bresse, contains three elaborately carved tombs and a church that is a masterpiece of Flamboyant Gothic.
The Pays de Gex, in the department's southeastern corner near Geneva, is heavily influenced by cross-border commuting to Switzerland and hosts part of CERN (the particle physics laboratory where the Higgs boson was confirmed in 2012). The Dombes plateau, dotted with over a thousand fish ponds, is an important wetland. The population exceeds 671,000 and is growing, driven by proximity to Lyon and Geneva.
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Ain stretches from the plains east of Lyon to the Jura mountains along the Swiss border. Bourg-en-Bresse, the prefecture, is known for poulet de Bresse, the only chicken in France with its own AOC appellation, recognizable by its blue feet, white feathers, and red comb matching the tricolore. The Royal Monastery of Brou, built in the early sixteenth century on the outskirts of Bourg-en-Bresse, contains three elaborately carved tombs and a church that is a masterpiece of Flamboyant Gothic.
The Pays de Gex, in the department's southeastern corner near Geneva, is heavily influenced by cross-border commuting to Switzerland and hosts part of CERN (the particle physics laboratory where the Higgs boson was confirmed in 2012). The Dombes plateau, dotted with over a thousand fish ponds, is an important wetland. The population exceeds 671,000 and is growing, driven by proximity to Lyon and Geneva.
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