Grenoble afternoon · Littoral de Tresserve

154 km from Grenoble

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Why this ride

154 km from Grenoble to Grenoble, about 2 h 39 of riding. On the way it passes Lac d’Aiguebelette, Littoral de Tresserve and back through Lac d’Aiguebelette. The highest point is about 1,300 m.

Roadbook

1. Grenoble start

   Grenoble is the capital of the French Alps in everything but title, a big, studenty, slightly industrial city set in a flat basin where three valleys meet, the Isère, the Drac and the Grésivaudan. The mountains here are not a backdrop but a wall: the Vercors on one side, Chartreuse on another, Belledonne on the third, so that wherever you look in the city there is rock rising above the rooftops. It is the end of the Route Napoléon in this case, the road Napoleon took in March 1815 when he landed from Elba and marched north to reclaim power, and the story goes that the people of Grenoble opened the gates to him and the army simply melted into his ranks.

   Arriving from Sisteron by that route is the best part of the day. The road comes down through the Alpine foothills, over the Col Bayard near Gap and then down the Valbonnais and the Matheysine, a landscape of plateaus and lakes and quiet farms, before you reach the Drac and the first of the city's outskirts. The final miles are far less romantic: ring roads, dual carriageways and a lot of cars. Grenoble has a reputation for traffic jams at rush hour and for trams that cross your path without warning, so keep your eyes open and avoid the western ring road on a Friday evening.

   For a rider this is a place for services, not for corners. Petrol, food and a bed are all easy here, with a large old town of pedestrian streets and café terraces around the Place Grenette and the Isère quays. The cable-car bubbles to the Bastille fort rise above the river and give the best view of the whole basin, with the Vercors and Belledonne lit up in the late afternoon, though check the opening times of the cable car before planning around it.

   Grenoble was also the city of the 1968 Winter Olympics, and bits of that era survive in the concrete architecture and the sports facilities. It has a strong tradition of science and technology, with research institutes and a university that bring in a young, international crowd, and the food scene reflects it, with Savoyard cheese dishes alongside everything else. Walnuts from the surrounding hills are a local pride, and a walnut tart or a gratin dauphinois is a decent excuse for a longer stop than you planned.

2. Lac d’Aiguebelette sight

   Motorboats are banned on the Lac d'Aiguebelette, and on a calm summer morning you notice the difference straight away: rowers sliding across water so still it mirrors the wooded slopes above, swimmers heading out from small beaches, and no engine noise beyond the occasional car on the shore road. The lake, in Savoie just west of Chambéry, is one of the largest natural lakes in France, and its clean water is among the warmest of the alpine lakes in summer. It hosted the World Rowing Championships in 2015.

   The lake lies at the foot of the Montagne de l'Épine, a limestone ridge that separates it from Chambéry, and the A43 motorway passes beneath through a tunnel. The old road over the Col de l'Épine, from Chambéry, climbs in tight bends through forest to the pass and then drops toward the lake, with superb views across the water and the hills to the west. The Col du Mont du Chat, further north, is another climb, steep and narrow, with views over the Lac du Bourget.

   The shore road around the lake is narrow and busy in summer, with cyclists, walkers and parking cars, so take it slowly. The surrounding country of the Avant-Pays Savoyard is a gentle landscape of hills, villages and farms, with quiet roads and pleasant views. Spring and autumn are lovely, when the crowds are gone and the light is soft.

   The lake has two islands, one with the ruins of a chapel, and the shores are partly protected as a nature reserve, home to birds and plants. Swimming is possible at several beaches, some with an entrance fee in summer. Fuel and services are available in Cognin, seven kilometres away, and Chambéry, a little further, has everything. Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin, to the west, is another option. Lakeside restaurants serve fish from the lake, including perch, and Savoyard dishes such as tartiflette.

3. Littoral de Tresserve turn

   The Lac du Bourget is the largest natural lake entirely in France, a long blue trough in the Savoie Prealps, and the shore at Tresserve, just south of Aix-les-Bains, is one of the quiet places to see it. Beneath the water here lie the remains of prehistoric lake dwellings, villages of timber houses built on piles along the shore thousands of years ago. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, a series of more than a hundred settlements in six countries. There is nothing to see above the surface, but knowing it is there changes the way you look at the reeds and shallows.

   The lake has a literary fame too. Alphonse de Lamartine met his great love, Julie Charles, in Aix-les-Bains in 1816, and after her death he wrote Le Lac, one of the most famous poems in the French language, about the lake that saw their happiness. Across the water, on the steep western shore, the Abbey of Hautecombe sits by the water at the foot of the Mont du Chat, burial place of the princes of the House of Savoy.

   Aix-les-Bains is an old spa town, with Belle Époque hotels, a casino and thermal baths, and it makes an excellent base. The riding around the lake is superb. The road along the western shore, below the Dent du Chat, is narrow and winding, with the cliffs on one side and the water on the other. Above it, the climb to the Mont du Chat is steep and tight, with long drops on the outside of the hairpins and no room for daydreaming. On the eastern side, the road up to Mont Revard climbs in long bends to a plateau with views over the lake and, on clear days, Mont Blanc.

   The lake is a place to swim in summer, with beaches and lidos around the shore; the water is clear and warms up well by July. Mornings are often hazy; afternoons can bring thunderstorms that roll in over the mountains.

   Aix-les-Bains has fuel, garages and every kind of food, from lakeside cafés to restaurants serving lake fish such as lavaret, a whitefish found in the Alpine lakes. Tresserve, the residential village above the shore, is quiet and green. Park by the water, take off your helmet, and listen to the lake.

4. back through Lac d’Aiguebelette stop

   back through Lac d’Aiguebelette, late in the day.

5. Grenoble finish

   Back at Grenoble. That is the ride.

Where this sits

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