Lac du Bourget, a romantic lake

Lac du Bourget, in the French Alps, is France's largest lake, and while it's fortunate that its shores have taken on a Mediterranean feel through their designation as the Riviera of the Alps, it has also remained strongly associated with Romanticism thanks to the frequent visits of the poet Lamartine.

In his poem "Le lac" (The Lake), Lamartine certainly evokes the nostalgia of his love, but he also gives some characteristics of this lake: the reeds, the caves, the black fir trees, the lovely hillsides and the wind that threw the foam from these waves.

These are all elements of the Lac du Bourget landscape Lac du Bourgetbut this romantic side, in which Nature takes on wilder, angrier, darker aspects, contrasts with the serene reality of the place.

Of course, there's the western shore, steeply enclosed by the Mont du Chat and Mont de la Charvaz massifs, with their wooded slopes, shaded in the evening and so close to the water's surface that the whole lake quickly becomes dark in the evening or when bad weather settles on the mountain.

And then there's the much sunnier east side, which rises gently over hillsides before touching the cliffs of Mont Revard overlooking the town ofAix-les-Bains.

This is the Riviera of the Alps, with its Belle Epoque palaces, thermal baths and lakeside promenades.

Taking a tour of Lac du Bourget means discovering very different worlds: the southern tip, where the port of Le Bourget, formerly the port of Chambéry, gave its name to the lake, developed; the west bank, whose most important monument is undoubtedly Hautecombe Abbey; the east bank, known as the Riviera des Alpes, whose center of activity is the town of Aix-les-Bains; and the north of the lake, with its very mild climate, known as the Chautagne.

Lac du Bourget: an important trade route.

In the past, when Chambéry was a ducal capital (of Savoy!), and even a little later, the goods route between Chambéry and Lyon was by river.

Goods embarked at the port of Le Bourget - today, the port city boasts a pretty marina and is a university town - crossed the entire length of the lake from south to north, took the Savière canal for just over three kilometers to join the Rhône at Chanaz, and then quietly descended the river to Lyon.

Along this Savoyard route, you shouldn't miss a thing: not the picturesque, well-preserved (or rather, well-restored!) old town of Chambéry, where you can't really tell whether you're in France or Italy, but you certainly know you're in Savoy, nor, at the northern exit, the old villages of Chindrieux and Chanaz, where you can visit the cellars and taste the local wine.

As you cross the lake, you'll see a large, completely isolated religious building in the middle of the wooded slopes along the water's edge. This is Hautec Abbeyhttps://hautecombe.chemin-neuf.fr/ombe. It is best known as the final resting place of the Savoy family, whose last representative, Umberto II, was the last king of Italy, before it became a republic at the end of the Second World War. The funerary necropolis allows visitors to step back in time and reconstruct the history of Savoy, a powerful duchy whose main enemy for a long time was the armies of the King of France.

The Alpine Riviera

When you think of the Riviera, you think of the Côte d'Azur, the sun, the deep blue sea... In Aix-les-Bains, you'd think you were there. The Belle Epoque palaces with their sumptuous facades are reminiscent of the seaside promenades of Cannes or Nice, the lush vegetation of the flower gardens, adorned with tropical essences, immediately fills you with a feeling of exoticism and vacation, and the sunshine and luminosity of the lake - even thoughAix-les-Bains town center is set back from the shore - take you far away to the South. People came here for the thermal baths, because the Allobroges (the Celtic people who lived here) and the Romans - some of whose monuments you'll see - later appreciated the virtues of the waters of the Aix subsoil. And when Thermalism once again came to the fore as a treatment for certain illnesses, it was respiratory patients who came here in search of a cure.

In the 19th century, thermal baths were synonymous with the haute-bourgeoisie, rich mansions, parks and gardens, and later in the 20th century with the Casino, and artistic figures who had the power to make destinations fashionable simply by being there. This is what happened in Aix-les-Bains. And you'll realize that this town is nothing like Chambéry or Annecyyet so close, which is what makes it so charming.

Chautagne, north of the lake.

Protected on both sides by mountain ranges that shelter it from the cold, stormy winds, the marshy Chautagne region is both a granary (wheat is grown here) and a vineyard. The vines, planted a very long time ago with grape varieties from the eastern Mediterranean, give the Savoy wines served on every table in Savoie: Altesse, Roussette, Mondeuse.

You can taste them in the wine cellars of Chanaz, a medieval gem, or on the terraces of Chindrieux, in the footsteps of Lamartine. To relax and enjoy the mild weather, don't hesitate to take a cruise on the Savière canal.

Before it took on its current name, Lac du Bourget was known as Lac de Châtillon. And Châtillon is the small marina at the northern end of the lake.

While cruises and crossings of the lake offer magnificent scenery, the shores are also ideal for swimming in 26-degree water at the height of summer. The beaches of Aix-les-Bains and Le Bourget are particularly worth a visit.

The lake is popular with yachtsmen: all water sports under sail are a delight for enthusiasts. The steady wind makes for great crossings.

But be careful you don't end up in a storm, like the one that capsized the boat on which Lamartine and his beloved Elvire were sailing, before capsizing their hearts.

Lac du Bourget from above.

When you visit mountain lakes, you always want to see them from above. They appear like jewels in a jewel box, and it's from above that you realize just how inviting they are.

There are three magnificent viewpoints around Lac du Bourget.

Mont Revard : the foothills of the Bauges massif, Mont Revard literally overlooks the town of Aix-les-Bains. Without having to take off with a paraglider - although it's a famous launching pad - from the belvedere you really get the impression of flying over the lake. The difference in altitude between the belvedere and the lake is almost 1,200 metres. The other side of Mont Revard is much less steep, with forests and valleys surrounding the La Féclaz ski resort, popular with cross-country skiers in winter and mountain bikers in summer.

Still on the same shore, a little further north of Aix-les-Bains, you'll find the Belvédère de la Chambotte with its magnificent restaurant terrace overlooking the lake, five hundred meters below.

To get a perspective from the other side of the river, with a backdrop of very high mountains, you can't miss the climb up to the slopes of Mont du Chat, and more specifically to the Molard Noir lookout.  

You may also be interested in these articles: