Last winter, I took my bike on the Voie Verte (bike road) along Lake Annecy until I reached Saint-Jorioz. There was a great view on the Bornes mountains from there. On the way back, I stoped at the Marais de l’Enfer (Swamp of Hell), a nature reserve on the shore of the lake.

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Last summer, a few weeks after riding my bike from La Féclaz to Albens, I came back to the Bauges mountains. This time, I rode from the Semnoz plateau to Saint-Pierre-d’Albigny in Savoie.

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Last summer, I went on a hike to Croix du Nivolet, where I had already gone a few years ago. I took my bike on the bus from Aix-les-Bains to La Féclaz on the Mont Revard plateau, where the start of the trail is located. After the hike, instead of going down to Aix-les-Bains, I went in the other direction, towards the Vallée du Chéran and Vallée de Bange, at the center of the Bauges mountains. When I reached there, it had started to rain so I rushed to the nearest train station, in Albens.

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During the summer, I took my bike on the SIBRA summer shuttle to the top of the Semnoz. My goal was go down to Lake Annecy using the paved road (there are tracks for downhill mountain bikes as well): It is an almost uninterrupted downward slope until the lake with relatively little car traffic. Before going down, I spent some time on the plateau, which serves as cross country skiing tracks during winter. I also went to the summit (Crêt de Châtillon). There was a good view on the Mont Blanc from up there. Finally, I took the road to Leschaux, then went down the Route du Col de Leschaux until I reached the lake at Sévrier.

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After getting back to Aix-les-Bains from Mont Revard, I took my bike on the Voie Verte du Lac du Bourget, a bike lane (actually shared with roller skaters and pedestrians) next to the lake. Lac du Bourget is the biggest lake in France and the bike lane only goes along a small part of its shore. When I arrived at Bourget-du-Lac at the southern shore of the lake, I took the Avenue Verte Nord de Chambéry, which is another separate bike lane that goes all the way to Chambéry.

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The Lac d’Annecy (Lake Annecy) is located in Haute-Savoie and is the third largest lake in France. In spring, I took my bike on a loop around the lake. The loop is about 42km and should take about 3 hours to complete in one go. Starting in Annecy-le-Vieux, I first followed the road southwards on the eastern shore of the lake and stopped at Roc de Chère, Cascade d’Angon and Réserve Naturelle du Bout du Lac. It started raining heavily at that point so I rushed to go back to Annecy. However, the western shore of the lake is actually the nicest for cyclists, with a flat and fully separate bike lane (Voie Verte), which goes all the way from Annecy to Albertville. I used photos from other times I was on that path instead.

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The Pays de l’Albanais is the region of Haute-Savoie between Lac d’Annecy and Lac du Bourget. Among the interesting things to do in the area are visiting the Jardins Secrets in Vaulx, the Gorges of the river Fier and the castle of Montrottier.

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In my last days before traveling to Japan, I took my bike on a loop starting in Annecy and passing through Thônes and Faverges.

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On Monday, departing from Annecy-le-Vieux, I went up the Semnoz mountain (1699m) by bike, following the last part of the 20th stage of the next Tour de France. It was hard but the view at the summit was worth it.

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