3 Best Sights in Valence, Lyon and the Alps

Between the Place des Ormeaux next to the cathedral, and Rue Madier de Montjau and the Boulevards Maurice Clerc et Boulevard Bancel, the winding medieval streets of Valence's Old Town are a delight to explore. Along with its leafy squares, welcoming cafés, and gastronomic restaurants, there are several sites to spot. On the Grand Rue you can't miss the Renaissance confection Maison des Têtes (1452) and the Moorish-style Maison Mauresque (1858), at 1 rue Gaston Rey. Closer to the cathedral, an open square funerary chapel called the Pendentif (1545) was one of the first French edifices to be listed as a historic monument, in 1834. The Valence outdoor market, held on several different tree-shaded squares depending on the day (it's worth picking up a schedule at the tourist office or checking online), is particularly picturesque. The Marché Producteurs (local farmers' and organic market) is held from 5 pm to 8 pm every Tuesday under a historic halle on the Place Saint-Jean. The old town is the perfect spot to seek out the Valence specialty called the Suisse, a delicious buttery pastry, somewhere between a brioche and a cookie, that's perfumed with orange flower and flavored with orange rind and rum.

Follow some steep-curbed alleyways, called côtes, from the banks of the Rhône into the Vieille Ville to discover, at its center, the imposing cathedral of St-Apollinaire. Although begun in the 12th century in the Romanesque style, it's not as old as it looks: parts of it were rebuilt in the 17th century, with the belfry rebuilt in the 19th.