This page was especially published for the young Americans of Elmhurst Illinois and their families, which came for a stay in our French region as exchange students in the year 2,000.

CHATEAURENAUD is a rural community. As all communities located around the larger cities Chateaurenaud has experienced enormous growth in the last decades. It covers a fairly large area, and one of the districts is near and overlooks the city of LOUHANS which is the sub-prefecture. Both communities Chateaurenaud and Louhans are twin cities. It encompasses residential areas composed of individuals houses and apartments buildings.A small industrial zone is in the process of being favourably developed.Outside the city limits, it is the typical French countryside consisting of agriculture. In the countryside, some private homes have been built all along the secondary roadways.
The typical landscape of the countryside is somewhat undulating, and the scenery consists of farmland, prairies and forests. It is an area of multi purpose farming: cereals, corn, sunflowers, livestock such as cows and poultry (the famous chicken of Bresse). Three rivers flow through the community: Seille, Vallière and Blainette. Those rivers provide excellent fishing: large perch, pikes, carps, and other several fresh water white fishes. In the last few years, sheat fish have also been caught in those rivers, some of them exceeding 6 feet in length.
CHATEAURENAUD, with a population of 3,000 has its own church, the townhall, the stadium, a kindergarten (3 to 5 years olds) and a Primary School (6 to 11 years old). After that, children go on to College (High School*) then on to Lycée (College*)
(* Please note that in France high school is called college, and college is called Lycée).
LOUHANS, with a population of 3,850 is a County seat annex consisting mostly of shops. There is a main street lined with ancient arches which is a tourist point of interest. Every Monday, the city comes alive with a unique traditional market, the most important in the region. In the city, one finds numerous shops, artisans, hotels, restaurants, and 4 supermarkets.
Other curiosities are: the church with its varnished tile roof, and the "Hotel-Dieu" pharmacy.
Louhans-Chateaurenaud is served by train service from Dijon to Bourg-en-Bresse, with Paris and Lyon connections. Via motorways, it is only a short distance to the "Autoroutes" (Interstate highways) A-6 (Paris-Lyon-Marseille) and A-39 (Mulhouse-Lyon-Geneva-Alpes). The Jura, a mid-size mountain range, is also very near, where skiing is available during the winter months.
Please find attached to this document the related maps which will permit you to locate our region, and some typical photos, but there is much more to discover.