Not blessed by nature, and dubbed an inferior version of the Bresse by French historian and poet Edgar Quinet, the Dombes has got its own back. It is renowned for its gastronomy and its tradition of horses, which have been bred here since the 15C. Some thousand pools make for the unique topography and particular charm of the area. Rammed-earth farmhouses, châteaux built of red bricks (or carrons) and flower-decked villages, such as Villars-les-Dombes, adorn the vast landscapes, whose skies are graced by all sorts of birds...