Why this ride
232 km from Aix-les-Bains to Aix-les-Bains, about 3 h 48 of riding. It goes by way of Lac d’Aiguebelette, Secteur des Mongets and back through Lac d’Aiguebelette. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hautecombe and Secteur des Mongets
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 232 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 48
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Hautecombe → Lac d’Aiguebelette
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 31 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 48 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hautecombe
Hautecombe Abbey stands on the western shore of Lac du Bourget, in Savoy, and it is almost impossible to reach without seeing the lake first. The Lac du Bourget is the largest natural lake entirely in France, a deep blue sheet under limestone cliffs, and the abbey sits on a small rocky spur above the water, with a boat landing and a church whose tower is visible across the bay. The poet Lamartine, who fell in love here in 1816, wrote a famous poem called Le Lac, about a lost love at this water.
Read the complete Hautecombe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hautecombe is where the day begins. Next is Lac d’Aiguebelette.
2. Lac d’Aiguebelette
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.
Read the complete Lac d’Aiguebelette write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lac d’Aiguebelette comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Secteur des Mongets.
3. Secteur des Mongets
Sevrier, on the western shore of Lake Annecy, is home to an unusual industry: bells. The Paccard foundry, which has been casting bells since the late eighteenth century and moved to Sevrier in the 1980s, has made bells for churches and carillons all over the world, and its museum explains how they are designed, cast and tuned. It is a curious contrast to the quiet lakeshore just below the village, where the Secteur des Mongets marks the remains of a prehistoric village built on the edge of the lake, now under water. It is one of the sites included in the World Heritage listing of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, and divers have found wooden piles, pottery and tools in the lake bed.
Read the complete Secteur des Mongets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 116 km into the recorded legs you reach Secteur des Mongets. Next is back through Lac d’Aiguebelette.
4. back through Lac d’Aiguebelette
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lac d’Aiguebelette write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Lac d’Aiguebelette, late in the day. Next is Hautecombe.
5. Hautecombe
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hautecombe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hautecombe. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hautecombe to Lac d’Aiguebelette
Hautecombe → Lac d’Aiguebelette is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lac d’Aiguebelette to Secteur des Mongets
Lac d’Aiguebelette → Secteur des Mongets is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Secteur des Mongets to back through Lac d’Aiguebelette
Secteur des Mongets → back through Lac d’Aiguebelette is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lac d’Aiguebelette to Hautecombe
back through Lac d’Aiguebelette → Hautecombe is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.