Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Departments: Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Cantal, Drôme, Isère, Loire, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, Métropole de Lyon, Savoie, Haute-Savoie.
Population: 8.2 million inhabitants
Prefecture: Lyon
Area: 69,711 km²
Specialities: Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône and Savoie wines, Lyon specialities (quenelles, cervelles de canut, saucisson, etc.), Auvergne potée, Savoyard specialities (raclette, fondue, tartiflettes, diots, crozets), cheeses (Beaufort, Reblochon, Cantal, Bleu d'Auvergne, Salers, Saint-Nectaire, etc.), green lentils from Le Puy, waters (Evian, Thonon, Volvic), verbena, Chartreuse.
Sports clubs: Olympique Lyonnais, AS Saint-Etienne, Clermont Foot 63, Grenoble Foot 38 (football). ASM Clermont, Lyon OU, FC Grenoble, Stade Aurillacois, US Oyonnax (rugby), ASVEL Villeurbanne (basketball), Chambéry (handball), Brûleurs de loup Grenoble, Pionniers de Chamonix (ice hockey)
Competitions: Women's Football World Cup, skiing competitions (Critérium de la Première Neige in Val d'Isère), Tour de France mountain passes, Critérium du Dauphiné.
Economy: (8th European region) cutting-edge industries, automotive (Berliet), metallurgy, rubber, plastics, chemicals, electronics, agri-food, textiles, digital, banking, universities, government, viticulture. Tyres (Michelin). Design. New technologies (Inovallée). Winter and summer tourism.
Festivals: Festival of Lights in Lyon, Nuits de Fourvière in Lyon, Quais du Polar in Lyon, Design Biennial in Saint-Etienne, La Chaise-Dieu Classical Music Festival
Tourist attractions: Old Lyon and Croix-Rousse, Puy-en-Velay Cathedral, Lake Annecy, Chambéry Castle, winter sports in Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, Cantal, spa resorts, Auvergne volcanoes. Pont d'Arc Cave. Grignan Castle. Grenoble Bastille. Vulcania. Parc des Oiseaux.
Websites and social media: www.auvergnerhonealpes.fr
HAUTE-SAVOIE (74)Population: 861,158
Prefecture: Annecy
Sub-prefectures: Bonneville, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Thonon-les-Bains.
Number of municipalities: 279
Area: 4,388 km²
Specialities: AOC/AOP cheeses: Reblochon, Abondance, Tomme, Tome des Bauges, Beaufort, Chevrotin, Emmental de Savoie, Raclette. Savoie AOC wines, Ayze, Royal Seyssel, Roussette de Savoie. Other labels: Berthoud (STG), Savoie apples and pears (IGP). Specialities and traditional dishes: Génépi, Crozets, Tartiflette, perch fillets (lake fish), diots, blueberry tart, Savoyard fondue, potato fritters, honey, bidoyon (artisan cider), gentian.
Sports clubs: headquarters of the French Ski Federation. Annecy Football Club, GFA Rumilly Vallières (football). Thonon Evian Grand Genève Football Club. FCS Rumilly (rugby). US Annecy Rugby. Black Panthers de Thonon-les-Bains (American football). Annecy CSAV Handball. Annemasse Basket Club. Chamonix Elite Hockey Club "Les Pionniers". Hockey Club Pays du Mont Blanc. Haute-Savoie Nordic Team
Major competitions and events: Kandahar Alpine Ski World Cup (Chamonix Mont Blanc Les Houches). Greenweez Maxi-Race (Annecy). Alps Bike Festival (La Clusaz). Mountain Bike World Cup (Les Gets). Climbing World Cup (Chamonix Mont Blanc). Megève International Show Jumping. Evian Championship (golf). Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc (Chamonix). Biathlon World Cup (Le Grand Bornand). Telemark World Cup (Samoëns and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains). High'Five Festival (Annecy). Rock the Pistes (Portes du Soleil). Critérium du Dauphiné. Ski Mountaineering World Cup (Flaine). Grande Odysée Savoie-Mont-Blanc. Tour de l'Avenir. Tour des Pays de Savoie Heritage: Lake Geneva, Mont Blanc and Aiguille du Midi, Lake Annecy. Château des Sires de Bonneville. Château de Clermont. Plateau des Glières (national necropolis). Montenvers Train (Mer de Glace) and Mont Blanc Tramway. Château de Ripaille. Col des Aravis. Village des Flottins. Pont des Amours (Annecy). Le Hameau du Père Noël. Château d'Annecy. Pont de la Caille. Basilique de la Visitation. La Tournette. Col de la Forclaz. Abbey of Abondance. Buvette Cachat des Eaux d'Evian. Château des Allinges. Baroque chapels of St-Gervais. Abbey of Aulps. Thermal baths of St-Gervais Interpretation Centre for Mountain Smuggling
Festivals: International Animation Film Festival (Annecy). Montjoux Festival. Guitare en Scène (Annecy). Nomade Reggae Festival. Rock'n'Poche. Megève International Jazz Festival. Pleins Feux Festival. Village des Flottins. Morzine Harley Days. Musilac Mont-Blanc. Radio Meuh Circus Festival. Mont-Blanc Humour. Paradisio Annecy. Les Grandes Médiévales d'Andilly
Main tourist attractions: Lake Annecy, Annecy Castle, Mont Blanc and Mer de Glace, Aravis, winter sports resorts in Chamonix, Saint-Gervais, Megève, Les Gets, Morzine and Avoriaz.
Economy: watchmaking (Cluses), bar turning, mechanics (Dassault, Alcatel), agriculture and agri-food (Reblochon and Tome cheese production, Evian water), mountain tourism, sports industry (Dynastar, Salomon, Mavic). Outdoor Sport Valley cluster, for the economic development of the outdoor sector. Major facilities (Rochexpo, etc.)
Websites, etc.: www.hautesavoie.fr/, www.haute-savoie-tourisme.org/
Airbnb / Fondation du patrimoine
Every summer, the peloton passes by French heritage treasures that you wouldn't expect!
Millennia-old abbeys, restored barns, castles that are coming back to life, churches that have watched over their villages for a thousand years. Airbnb invites you to look up and open the door to these treasures.
On the route of each 2026 Tour de France stage, discover a remarkable site: Its history, its roots, and all the great reasons to stop there.
The most beautiful Art Nouveau fountain in France awaits you in Évian, and admission is free—visit the Buvette Cachat
Its history
Completed in 1905 by the architect Jean-Albert Hébrard, the Buvette Cachat stands on the site of Évian's first spa, founded in 1826. Wood, glass, and metal form this ode to water, crowned by a dome adorned with stained glass windows featuring plant motifs. A place for social gatherings during the Belle Epoque, it once housed a reading room and a fountain sculpted by Beylard.
Its roots
Right in the heart of Évian-les-Bains, world-renowned for its water, the Buvette Cachat embodies the golden age of spas. The City of Évian is currently carrying out an ambitious restoration project with artisans and traditional expertise.
Why stop there?
Immerse yourself in the elegant atmosphere of the Belle Époque. Then the quays of Lake Geneva, the thermal spas, the gardens. Not to mention the cultural events that bring the city to life all summer.
Just 24 kilometres away... Château de Gie in Giez, the Savoyard estate that has kept everything!
Its history
In Giez, in the Bauges mountains, halfway between Annecy and Albertville, the Château de Gie is a 13th-century fortified house that has been continuously owned by the same family, the Chevron-Villettes, for more than eight centuries. After the medieval fortified house and the 17th-century outbuildings, an extraordinary model farm was built in 1860, following the annexation of Savoy to France: the farm comprises stables, stalls, a press, a granary, a dovecote, and carved wooden decorations with a Bavarian and Piedmontese influence that are unique in Savoy. Supported by the Patrimoine et Tourisme Local program of Airbnb and the Fondation du patrimoine, this complex, which is classified as a Historic Monument, is entering a new phase of restoration.
Its roots
Giez is a quiet village in the Pays de Faverges, 22 kilometres from Annecy. The castle and its farm constitute a homogeneous and rare heritage complex, a witness to the Sarde period, the Savoyard-Piedmontese golden age that shaped the rural architecture of the region.
Why stop there?
A living estate, surrounded by waterfalls and terraced gardens, just a stone's throw from Lake Annecy. The tour provides access to a unique architectural testimony to the history of Savoy.
Discover the project and its progress on the Fondation du Patrimoine website
This section was presented to you by Airbnb, an official partner of the Tour de France and a major sponsor of the Fondation du Patrimoine. Since 2022, Airbnb has helped preserve more than 200 heritage treasures across France with more than €6 million in funding. From castles that come back to life to abbeys steeped in history, from restored barns to churches in the heart of villages, these places make up the richness and uniqueness of our regions. Each year, the Grand Prix du Patrimoine et Tourisme Local gives the public the power to choose which one will be restored as a priority.
Km 4.8
L'X
Named L'X because of its shape, L'X is a crossroads well known to local residents. In recent years, it has been converted into a roundabout connecting the roads to Publier, Neuvecelle, Saint Paul en Chablais and Champanges.
Km 7.1
Champanges
In the 19th century, more than 20 pc of the population of Champanges migrated to escape poverty. Twenty-eight families from the village settled in Argentina in the colonies of Colón, San José, and Villa Elisa. The Savoie Argentine association maintains links between Savoie and the descendants of emigrants in Argentina.
The Baroque-style Saint-Martin church was the destination of a pilgrimage on 25 May to cure children suffering from rickets. Pilgrims had to walk around the church nine times and count the laps by dropping small pebbles.
Km 9.1
Larringes
Larringes is a small village located on the Pays de Gavot plateau, nestled between 700 and 870 metres above sea level in a natural setting. Its history is linked to its fortified castle, built in the 10th century on Roman ruins.
Larringes CastleFounded: 10th century.
Style: medieval.
History: built on the site of a Gallo-Roman settlement.
The castle has belonged to several noble families over the centuries: Allinges or Évian-Larringes (12th and 13th centuries), Savoie (early 13th century), Chatillon de Lugrin (1334), Neuvecelle (1438), Allinges-Coudée and finally Stoutz (1840), the current owners.
Characteristics: The castle is a quadrangular enclosure, originally surrounded by a moat, measuring 23 × 35 metres, with three dwellings built around a courtyard.
Current use: Private property, not open to visitors.
Km 11.7
Féternes
At the beginning of the 13th century, Féternes was the centre of a castellany corresponding to the current community of communes of the Pays d'Évian. At the beginning of the 14th century, power shifted to Évian. The castle was first mentioned in the 12th century.
In 1306, Amadeus V of Savoy, owner of the castle and the seigneury, obtained from the Bishop of Geneva the right to hold a market on Sundays in his castrum of Féternes, then a fortified town. The count's castle, known as the "Château-vieux" (old castle), was distinct from another castle known as Compey-Lucinge, which defended the eastern entrance to the fortified town. The ruins of both castles and the chapel of the old castle remain at the edge of the town.
Km 13
Château Vieux
Féternes Castle
Construction: 12th and 13th centuries.
History: the first known lord was Guy de Féternes, who participated in the refounding of Abondance Abbey in 1108. The castle was first mentioned in 1193.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the castle was in the hands of the Counts of Savoy, who held it as a fief from the Bishops of Geneva. In 1249, the castle was ceded by Amadeus IV of Savoy to his brother Pierre II of Savoy. The latter bequeathed it to his wife Agnès de Faucigny. In 1271-1272, work was carried out on the tower, but it was gradually abandoned.
Characteristics: now in ruins, Féternes Castle consists of several walls surrounding a square keep measuring 9.50 × 18 metres.
Fortified house of Compey-Lucinge
Construction: 14th century.
History: part of the Féternes seigneury was acquired in 1325 by the Compey family, who then invested in a castle separate from the count's castle known as the "old castle". Jean de Compey was invested with the property and rights of Féternes by the Count of Savoy in 1346. His descendants were lords of Féternes. In 1930, the castle was burned down.
Characteristics: Compey Castle is an irregular rectangle flanked by several towers, one square and the others round. Three buildings, extensively remodelled in the 15th and 16th centuries, are arranged in a U-shape around a large courtyard.
Km 17.2
Pont de la Douceur
The bridge is called "Pont de la Douceur" (Bridge of Sweetness), after the nickname of the architect who built it, Louis Bâtisse, known as "La Douceur en Savoie" (Sweetness in Savoy). It is also called Pont des Français (Bridge of the French). It was built in 1853 over the Dranse River between Armoy and Marin. Originally located on the left bank in the commune of Armoy, it was transferred to the commune of Thonon in 1970. It was replaced by a more modern bridge built in 1974. In 2007, the old bridge was dismantled for safety reasons. An abutment is still visible on the left bank, as well as a section of road that led to it on the right bank.
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