Éloise

The Perte du Rhône (Loss of the Rhône) is a sixty-metre-deep geologic fault just upstream of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in France, into which the Rhône River used to disappear during the dry season. It marked the border between Ain and Haute-Savoie. In 1948, the Génissiat Dam, designed by French architects Albert Laprade and Léon Bazin, was built to the south of Bellegarde. With the construction of the dam, the Perte du Rhône was transformed into a reservoir twenty three kilometres long, from Génissiat to the Swiss border. A similar feature called Pertes de la Valserine still exists in the same area.In 1854, Eugène Renevier, Professor of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Lausanne, wrote Fossiles du terrain aptien de la Perte-du-Rhône with François Jules Pictet de la Rive.

Léaz (French pronunciation: [le.a]; Arpitan: Lèya) is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. In addition to the main village, the commune has three hamlets: Grésin, Lavoux and Longeray.

Clarafond-Arcine (French pronunciation: [klaʁafɔ̃ aʁsin]; Arpitan: Klyarafon) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Prior to 1 July 2005, it was known as Clarafond.

The river Valserine (French pronunciation: [valsəʁin]) is a tributary of the Rhône that flows for 47.6 kilometres (29.6 mi) from the Col de la Faucille in the Jura Mountains to its confluence with the Rhône at Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. The Valserine Valley has great charm; it includes the Pont des Pierres that spans the river between Montanges and Mulaz (in the commune of Confort), as well as the Pertes de la Valserine just north of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, a canyon in which during the dry season the Valserine runs underground. As the river flows through the village of Mijoux, it marks the border between Ain (a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) and Jura (in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté).

Valserhône (French pronunciation: [valsəʁon] ; Arpitan: Vâlcerôno) is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. It is the result of the merger, on 1 January 2019, of the communes of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, Châtillon-en-Michaille and Lancrans. In 2018, the three communes had a combined population of 16,431, with Bellegarde-sur-Valserine as the major population centre. This makes Valserhône the third-most populated commune of Ain, after Bourg-en-Bresse and Oyonnax.

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (French pronunciation: [bɛlɡaʁd syʁ valsəʁin], literally Bellegarde on Valserine; Arpitan: Bèlagouârda) is a former commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune of Valserhône.

The canton of Valserhône (before March 2020: canton of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine) is an administrative division in eastern France. At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the canton was expanded from 12 to 15 communes (2 of which were merged into the new communes Surjoux-Lhopital and Valserhône):

Bellegarde station (French: Gare de Bellegarde) is a railway station served by TGV, TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Léman Express located in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, in the département of Ain, France. The first station building opened in 1858 to allow a stop on the line between Seyssel and Geneva. The wooden building was destroyed by fire and requiring the construction of a new building in 1907. Over the years, other lines reached to the station, causing passenger numbers to grow. The first TGV service was in 1981 between Paris Gare de Lyon and Geneva. From a simple railway station, the site underwent a major restructuring in 2010 to become an interchange. This was triggered by the decision to renovate the Ligne du Haut-Bugey.

Saint-Germain-sur-Rhône (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ ʒɛʁmɛ̃ syʁ ʁon], literally Saint-Germain on Rhône; Arpitan: San-Zharmin) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France.

Lancrans (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃kʁɑ̃]; Arpitan: Lancrens) is a former commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune of Valserhône. In 1858, Vanchy (renamed Coupy in 1907, merged in 1966 into Bellegarde-sur-Valserine) and Confort separated from Lancrans to form new communes.

Fort l'Écluse, or the Fort de l'Écluse, is a military fort in Léaz, Ain, close to Collonges in Eastern France. It commands the Rhône Valley as a natural entrance into France from Switzerland between the Vuache and the Jura Mountains. The fort, which was established by a Duke of Savoy, was completed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban during the reign of King Louis XIV. It was destroyed by the Austrians in 1815, but rebuilt by the French; at the same time it was considerably strengthened and heightened. The high-road intersects a portion of this fortification.