An Excursion to Lac d’Aiguebelette

Roger and Dominique came up with the idea of going to a small town on Lake Annecy, about 140 kilometers from Lyon, for a day trip.  Roger and I would take our bikes to do a short tour of the area, and Anna and Dominique would wander about town, drink coffee, see the sights, and generally relax.  Then, we would all get together for a leisurely lunch.  In short, another tough day spent cementing Franco-American relations.

Dominique set herself the task of planning the excursion and found that it would require about two hours each way in the car, leaving little time for actually enjoying our destination.  So, she came up with an alternative – a small lake about an hour away called Lac d’Aiguebelette.  It had restaurants, beautiful scenery, a road circling the lake, and several small towns. 

In order to have time to ride before lunch, we planned to be on the road to the lake early, at least for us.  Unfortunately we reckoned without Lyonnais traffic, and without the fact that the lake’s tourist office was incorrectly located on our map.   By the time we had located a restaurant for lunch, found the tourist office and picked up a few maps and bike routes, it was almost lunch time.  Altering plans again, we opted for lunch first, then the bike tour.

The restaurant had a great setting, with an outside terrace right over the lake.  We had a table at the rail overlooking the water where we could watch the swans and fish swimming by, and enjoy an excellent meal and bottle of wine.  [Since it was also Anna's birthday, we had a glass of sparkling wine while we looked at the menu.] The lake itself is at the base of heavily wooded limestone cliffs, making for a dramatic setting.  In addition, the weather was gorgeous, as if trying to make up for a gray, rainy, and generally dismal month of May. [In the interest of full disclosure, our pictures of the restaurant did not turn out, so these are copied from the website.]

The Restaurant and Setting

 

View From the Terrace

After lunch, Roger and I set off along the lake, planning on riding for 45 minutes or so and then turning around and coming back.  After 35 minutes, it became obvious we could circumnavigate the lake in less than an hour and a half, so we decided to do so. 

The scenery was beautiful as we passed through small villages with lake-side resorts, hotels, and campgrounds.  The setting reminded David of the type of small family-oriented lake-side resorts that were popular in the U.S. up until the 1950’s, but which have now largely disappeared.  And in fact, some of the small hotels we passed were obviously no longer operating.

The road around the lake was narrow and winding with elevation changes of 200 feet, but there was little traffic, so it was a fairly relaxing excursion. 
 

Dominique and Roger

David, Anna, and Dominique

After completing our circuit of 24 kilometers or so, everyone had a bit of ice cream and once more enjoyed the scenery.  We then loaded the bikes back on the car and headed back to Lyon.