The French Alps Before Snow

Travel

Audio By Carbonatix

Mention the French Alps and most of us immediately picture winter.

Skis. Chalets. Snow-covered peaks. Fondue earned after spending an afternoon discovering that gravity remains undefeated.

But there is another Alps.

And September may be one of the best times to find it.

At the foot of the mountains sits Lake Annecy, an astonishing sweep of turquoise water surrounded by Alpine peaks. Summer’s crush begins to ease, winter hasn’t arrived, and the mountains are still open for hiking, cycling, and simply staring at them over something wonderful to eat.

This is the Alps between seasons.

I like the sound of that.

Start With Annecy

Annecy itself looks suspiciously like somebody designed a French town specifically for travel photography.

Canals wind through the medieval center. Flowers spill from bridges. Pastel buildings crowd narrow streets. Cafés appear precisely when you begin thinking you could use one.

Then, almost ridiculously, there’s the lake.

The water is famously clear, fed largely by mountain streams and springs. You can cruise it, kayak it, cycle around it, or simply walk the shoreline and watch the Alps rise almost directly from the water.

But don’t spend the entire trip at lake level.

The mountains are the point.

Head toward La Clusaz or Le Grand-Bornand, where hiking trails lead through Alpine meadows and high mountain landscapes that will disappear beneath snow soon enough. September gives you that wonderful transition: warm afternoons, cooler evenings, and the earliest signs that autumn is coming.

Then there’s the view from above.

Annecy is one of Europe’s celebrated paragliding destinations, and launching from the mountains above the lake turns an already beautiful place into something almost absurd.

I’ll leave the jumping-off-a-mountain portion to you.

I’ll happily photograph your departure.

Eat Like You’re in Savoie

Fortunately, the French Alps have developed an excellent response to all this physical activity:

Cheese.

This is Savoy country.

Reblochon. Tomme de Savoie. Raclette. Tartiflette—that glorious combination of potatoes, onions, bacon and melted Reblochon that makes counting calories seem disrespectful to French culture.

Find a mountain restaurant. Order it.

September is particularly good for this because you’re beginning to want food that feels like autumn without needing the full winter survival menu.

That’s really the appeal of Annecy now.

You’re catching the Alps in transition.

Summer is loosening its grip. Autumn is beginning to color the landscape. Winter is waiting somewhere above you.

The lake is still blue.

The trails are still open.

The cheese is already melted.

Go before the snow.