Bourg-en-Bresse > Chambéry

08/01/2025 - Stage 7 - 159,7 km - Hilly

Find here soon all the cultural points around today's stage.

In the meantime,you can return to the stage page to discover all the tourism information about the start and arrival cities of the stage!

Region: Auvergne-Rhône Alpes

Departments: Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Cantal, Drôme, Isère, Loire, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, Métropole de Lyon, Savoie, Haute-Savoie.

Population: 8 million

Prefecture: Lyon

Surface area: 69,711 km2

Specialities: Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône and Savoie wines, Lyon specialities (quenelles, cervelles de canut, saucisson?), potée auvergnate (stew), Savoy specialities (raclette, fondue, tartiflettes, diots, crozets), cheeses (beaufort, reblochon, cantal, bleu d'Auvergne, Salers, saint-Nectaire...), green lentil of 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, ski competitions (Première neige criterium in Val d'Isère), Tour de France mountain passes, Criterium du Dauphiné.

Economy: (8thEuropean region) high-tech industries, automotive (Berliet), metallurgy, rubber, plastics, chemicals, electronics, agri-food, textiles, digital, banks, universities, administration, viticulture. tyres (Michelin). Design. New technologies (Inovallée) Winter and summer tourism.

Festivals: Fête des Lumières in Lyon, Nuits de Fourvière in Lyon, quais du polar in Lyon, Design biennale in Saint-Etienne, classical music festival in La Chaise-Dieu, etc.

Tourist attractions: Old Lyon and Croix-Rousse, Le Puy-en-Velay cathedral, Lake Annecy, Chambéry castle, winter sports in Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, Cantal, spa resorts, Auvergne volcanoes. Caverne du Pont d'Arc. Château de Grignan. Grenoble Bastille. Vulcania. Parc des Oiseaux.

Websites and social networks: www.auvergnerhonealpes.fr

AIN (01)

Population: 654,000 (Andinois)

Prefecture: Bourg-en-Bresse

Sub-prefectures: Nantua, Belley and Gex

Surface area: 5,762 km 2

Region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Specialities: Bresse poultry (the only AOC-AOP poultry in the world), Bresse cream and butter, Bugey wines, cheeses (Comté, Bleu de Gex, Morbier, etc.), Dombes fish, pike quenelles with Nantua sauce, Bresse tart, Pérouges tart, etc.

Heritage: Royal Monastery of Brou, Ars Basilica (Ars sur Formans), Bird Park, House of Izieu, medieval town of Perouges, Château des Allymes, Ambronay Abbey, Museum of Bresse now called Domaine des saveurs-Les Planons, as well as 38 sites designated as sensitive natural areas...

Sport: US Oyonnax (rugby), JL Bourg (basketball), USBPA (rugby), FBBP01 (football).

Major competitions: Tour de l'Ain cycle race. Bourg-en-Bresse International Showjumping (CSI 4****). Bourg Open de l'Ain tennis Grand Prix. The Ain'ternational Rhône-Alpes Valromey Tour (International junior 1 and 2 team event). Mondial de Quad in Pont-de-Vaux. La Forestière UCI. La Bisous (Gran Fondo). L'Aindinoise (Gran Fondo)

Culture: Ambronay Baroque Music Festival. Printemps de Pérouges (music). Les musicales in Parc des oiseaux. Comics festival in Ain. Brass festival in Dombes. Oh! Bugey festival. A la folie pas du tout. The great AOC - AOP - IGP market. Entretiens de Belley (gastronomic event)

Economy: first industrial department in France. In January 2019, the Ain department launched its Origin'Ain label to promote its many areas of expertise (250 companies). Numerous international competitiveness clusters (La Plastic Vallée, Alimentec, Plaine de l'Ain industrial park...)

Websites and social networks: www.ain.fr / www.tourdefrance-ain.fr / www.ain-tourisme.com / Facebook : @Departement01 / Instagram: @ain.le.departement / Twitter: @Departement_AIN / Youtube: Département de l'Ain / Snapchat: Snapdelain

Km 7.5

Certines (Pop: 1,520)

This is the village of Edgar Quinet, a prominent 19th-century historian and politician, known for his republican and anti-clerical ideas. The village also boasts the pretty medieval château of Genoud (14th century), listed as a historic monument in 2006.

Km 13.5

Druillat (Pop: 1,440)

It was in Druillat that international rugby player Charles Mathon, a member of the Sport Libre resistance network, was murdered in 1944. The stadium of CS Oyonnax, where he trained, now bears his name.

Km 27.5

Château-Gaillard (Pop: 1,800)

The village takes its name from the Savoy castle of Rémens-sous-Saint-Germain, built in the 14th century, of which only ruins remain.

Km 31.3

St. Maurice de Rémens (Pop: 760)

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry spent a large part of his childhood in the village, and more specifically at the 18th-century château belonging to his aunt, now known as the "Little Prince château" by the locals in tribute to the author of one of the world's most popular books. Saint Ex's name appears on the Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens war memorial, along with those of other children from the village who died for France. In 1999, a replica of the castle was built in Hakone (Japan), to house The Little Prince Museum, dedicated to the Little Prince. A boarding school for national wards and a holiday camp centre, Saint-Exupéry's childhood castle is now the property of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which aims to create a place dedicated to the memory of the aviator and writer, who disappeared in July 1944 off the coast of Marseille.

Printemps de Pérouges

Created in 1997 to host classical music concerts in the medieval town of Pérouges, the Printemps de Pérouges has become one of the major festivals in the Ain and Lyon regions, hosting some of the world's biggest stars including Sting, Scorpions, Johnny Hallyday, Santana, Nekfeu and Soprano. The 2025 edition staged Soprano, Gims, Julien Doré and Kendji Girac. Founded by three sisters, Marie, Anne-Lise and Elsa Rigaud, the festival was held for a long time at the Polo Club de la Plaine de l'Ain in Saint-Vulbas, before moving in 2023 to the Château de Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens, childhood home of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Km 40.1

Lagnieu (Pop: 7,320)

The medieval castle of Montferrand (14th century), listed as a Historic Monument in 1990, is located in the commune. It is remarkable for its wall paintings, dating from the second half of the 16th century, whose author is unknown but which depict the marriage in 1468 of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, to Marguerite of York, his third wife and sister of the Kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III. It is likely that members of the de Montferrand family were invited to this wedding held in Bruges.

Km 50.5

Villebois (Pop: 1,290)

Villebois is famous for its quarries and its stone. Villebois stone has been used in the construction of many buildings in France, including in Lyon (in front of the Hôtel Dieu on les quais), Valence, Vienne and Givors, as well as in Switzerland. Traces of stone quarrying date back to 1695, but the industry reached its peak in the second half of the 18th century. Villebois is well known to canyoning enthusiasts for its descent of the Rhéby. Joseph Récamier (1774-1852), the founder of modern gynaecology, lived in Villebois where his uncle, the village priest, educated him and taught him Latin.

Km 56.5

Montagnieu (Pop: 670)

Montagnieu owes its reputation to the vines grown on the steep slopes of the Souhait mountain, and to its sparkling white wine, named after the village: a champagne white with elegant mousse and fine bubbles, to be drunk chilled as an aperitif or with dessert. The appellation's vineyards cover some thirty hectares, spread over the communes of Montagnieu, Seillonnaz and Briord. The architectural highlights include the Oncin Tower (a 15th-century private building). In 1919, the hamlet of Les Granges, below Montagnieu, was hit by a major landslide following several days of torrential rain. Around twenty homes and the new school were destroyed, resulting in the death of one person. This event left a lasting mark on people's memories.

Km 60.7

Briord (Pop: 1,100)

The ancient occupation of Briord is attested to by the presence of a buried Roman aqueduct and the discovery of a Gallo-Roman and Barbarian necropolis containing almost three hundred tombs dating from the 1st to 6th centuries.

Briord aqueduct

Construction: Roman period.

History: the site was explored from 1900 by the parish priest of Briord and excavated in 1906.

Characteristics: the aqueduct collected water from the Brivaz spring in Montagnieu, crossed the Briarette hill and ended at the Roman settlement of vicus Brioratensis in Briord. Only the underground section, under the hill, is known. The tunnel is around two hundred metres long.

Listed as: historic monument in 1904.

Km 65.2

Lhuis (Pop: 890)

The Romanesque church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption (12th century) has been a listed monument since 1930. Lhuis, like most of the villages crossed at the start of this stage, was on the route of the Tour du Valromey, a major junior stage race won by Mathieu Van der Poel, Victor Lafay and Romain Grégoire among others, and in 2023 by the young American Andrew August, born in 2005 and heralded as a prodigy in the making.

Km 73.2

Groslée-Saint-Benoît (1,240 inhabitants)

Created by the merger of Groslée and Saint-Benoît in 2016, this commune boasts a number of listed buildings, including its former medieval castle, the stronghold of the powerful seigneury of Groslée, and the 15th-century fortified house of Vareppe.

Groslée Castle

Built: 1180.

History: the castle was built by Jacques de Groslée, seneschal of Lyon. The castle, village and seigneury were sold by Antoine de Groslée to Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy around 1420, but remained in the family, reverting to Jacques de Groslée, Lord of Lhuis. In 1580, Duke Charles-Emmanuel I of Savoy converted the seigneury into a county in favour of Claude de Groslée, adding the seigneury of Lhuis. Joseph-Marie de Barral, Marquis de Montferrat, President of the Grenoble Parliament, inherited the estate by marriage in 1777 and was still in possession of it in 1789. The château, restored in the 15th and 16th centuries, was dismantled in the 18th century. Only the keep remains.

Current use: private property.

Listed as a historic monument since 1992.

Km 80.9

Brégnier-Cordon (pop. 820)

Château de la Barre, in Brégnier-Cordon, was the scene of a crime that is said to have inspired Stendhal to write The Red and the Black.

Château de la Barre

Built: 1344, altered in the 20th century.

History: the fief belonged to Guillaume de Cordon, a knight, who paid homage to Louis of Savoy the same year. The seigneury remained in the family until the disgrace of Aynard de Cordon in 1435. Little remains of the medieval castle. The La Forest family, who inherited it in the 16th and 17th centuries, transformed La Barre into a pleasure residence with beautiful gardens.

Characteristics: the current main building dates back to the origins of the fortified castle, in the 13th century; it is the square, six-storey keep, 32 metres high; it has been continuously inhabited; the fortifications date back to the 13th century.

Trivia: the castle was the scene of a crime involving a young seminarian from the village of Brangues, Antoine Berthet, who was hired as a tutor by the Count of Cordon in 1826. Berthet was said to have seduced his daughter Henriette, leading to her dismissal. Convinced that his mistress, the wife of the mayor of Brangues, was behind his dismissal, he shot her in the church in Brangues. Arrested and sentenced to death, he was executed in Grenoble in 1828. It is thought that Stendhal, who was familiar with courts and legal cases, drew inspiration from this incident to write his novel The Red and the Black.

Upper-Rhône nature reserve

This reserve covers 3 departments: Ain (Lhuis, Groslée, Saint-Benoît and Brégnier-Cordon), Isère and Savoie. With 1,707 hectares of alluvial and forested areas stretching 26 km along the Rhône, it is the largest fluvial forest reserve in France. It is home to remarkable sites such as the Saugey meander and the Evieu forest, numerous species (beaver, otter, yellow-bellied sounder, little egret, hobby falcon, purple heron, etc.), a wide variety of habitats (riverbanks, willow groves, reedbeds, flood meadows) and more than a dozen remarkable plants (marsh hottonia, great buttercup, little naiad and guinea fern).

ISÈRE (38)

Region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Population: 1.2 million (16 pc of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Prefecture: Grenoble

Sub-prefectures: Vienne, La Tour du Pin

Number of communes: 521

Surface area: 7,431 Km² (11 pc of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Specialities: Grenoble walnuts (AOC), St Marcellin (IGP cheese), Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage (AOP cheese), ravioles, Chartreuse liqueur, Bonnat chocolates, antésite. Wines: Coteaux du Grésivaudan, Balmes Dauphinoises, Collines Rhodaniennes (IGP wines), Vitis Vienna (Vienne wines). Vercors trout, mountain meats (beef, lamb), gratin dauphinois, brioche de Bourgoin, murçon (charcuterie)...

Major sports clubs: FC Grenoble (rugby), Brûleurs de loups (ice hockey), GF38 (football), CSBJ (rugby), Les bruleurs, Les ours de Villard (hockey), Rugby Sassenage Isère (women's rugby).

Major competitions: La Foulée blanche in Autrans, Ut4M (Ultra tour des 4 massifs), Trail des passerelles du Monteynard, Echappée belle (Ultra traversée de Belledonne), EuroNordicWalk Vercors, Grand Duc-trail de Chartreuse, La Marmotte à l'Alpe d'Huez (Gran Fondo).

Festivals: Icare Cup in St Hilaire du Touvet, Alpe d'Huez Film Festival (comedy film festival in Isère), Berlioz Festival in la Côte Saint-André, Jazz in Vienne Festival, Mountain Film Festival in Autrans, Vélo Vert Festival in Villard de Lans, Tomorrowland in l'Alpe d'Huez.

Economy: Industry, electronics, digital, micro and nanoelectronics, IT, research, health, hydroelectricity, chemicals and the environment, energy, spa treatments, tourism

Main tourist attractions: Domaine de Vizille, Grande Chartreuse monastery, Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, Choroanche caves, Grenoble cable car, Grenoble museum, Chartreuse cellars, Dauphinois Museum, St Hilaire du Touvet funicular, Crémieu, Vienne, Walibi Rhône-Alpes park, Europe's largest skiable glacier at Les Deux-Alpes.

Websites and social networks: www.alpesishere.com / www.cyclo-alpes.com / www.isere.fr

Km 84.1

Aoste (Pop: 2,900)

Home to the Aoste food group, whose ham has nothing to do with the PDO ham produced in Italy's Aosta Valley. In 2017, Aoste hosted the start of a stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné won by Peter Kennaugh at Alpe d'Huez, as well as a stage of the Tour des Pays de Savoie in 2011, won in La Thuile by Romain Bardet.

Gallo-Roman Museum of Aoste

Founded: 1856

History: the name Aoste comes from Augustus and Vicus Augustus, a small Roman town located at the crossroads of several roads, one of which led to Vienne, capital of the province, and then Lyon, another to Switzerland and the third to Aosta in Italy and Rome via Lemencum (Chambéry). At the time, the city was a major centre for the production of high-quality glassware and pottery, which was exported throughout the empire.

Characteristics: the Gallo-Roman Museum in Aoste is dedicated to evoking daily life in the ancient town of Augustum during the Gallo-Roman period.

Listed as: Musée de France.

Km 95.4

Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin (Pop: 3,580)

The birthplace of Léo Bergère, world short-distance triathlon champion in 2022 and bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was also in Pont-de-Beauvoisin that little Maëlys de Araujo was abducted and murdered, a murder for which serial killer Nordahl Lelandais was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Km 102

Saint-Jean-d’Avelanne (980 hab.)

The town features the fortified house known as Château du Mollard-Rond (14th and 17th centuries), listed as a Historic Monument in 1998.

Km 104.5

Saint-Albin-de-Vaulserre (420 hab.)

The commune is home to Château de Vaulserre (17th and 18th centuries), listed as a historic monument in 1984. In 1995, Jean-Paul Rappeneau's film The horseman on the roof, starring Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez, was partly filmed at the château.

SAVOIE (73)

Region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes

Population: 442,500

Surface area: 6,028 km²

Number of cantons: 19

Number of communes: 273

Prefecture: Chambéry (59,629 inhabitants)

Sub-prefectures: Albertville, St-Jean-de-Maurienne

Specialities: Raclette, tartiflette, fondue, crozets (square-shaped pasta made from buckwheat flour), diots and pormoniers (pork sausages cooked in white wine), Saint-Genix (brioche with red pralines), gâteau de Savoie, chocolate truffles, bugnes (doughnuts), génépi (mountain plant liqueur), Savoy cheeses (Tome des Bauges, Beaufort).

Sport: Chambéry Savoie Mont Blanc Handball (D1), AG2R-Citroën team (cycling), Aix Maurienne Savoie Basket (ProB) / Events: Alpine World Ski Championships Courchevel-Méribel 2023, Mountain Bike World Championships-Les Gets, August 2022. Albertville Winter Olympics 1992.

Heritage: Hautecombe abbey (on the banks of Lac du Bourget), Château des Ducs de Savoie (Chambéry), Esseillon barrier forts (Haute Maurienne), Vanoise national park, Bauges and Chartreuse regional nature parks, Lac du Bourget, Lac d'Aiguebelette, etc.

Economy: tourism, agri-food, eco-industries, mountain industries, composite materials, information and communication technologies, metalworking, etc.

Culture: Musilac in Aix-les-Bains, Les Estivales en Savoie in Chambéry, Le Grand Bivouac in Albertville, Les Arcs European Film Festival, etc.

Websites and social networks : www.savoie.fr / https://www.facebook.com/SavoieDepartement/ / https://twitter.com/SavoieDepart https://www.savoie-mont-blanc.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/savoiemontblancFR/ / @savoiemontblancFR / https://twitter.com/SavoieMontBlanc / @SavoieMontBlanc #SavoieMontBlanc / https://www.pinterest.fr/savoiemontblanc/ / https://www.instagram.com/savoiemontblanc/ / https://www.youtube.com/user/SavoieMontBlanc

Km 106.7

Saint-Béron (Pop: 1,720)

Château de Vaux-Saint-Cyr

Built: 1867.

History: the château was built in 1867 by Count Septime de Garnier des Garets, and by marriage, in 1910 the château reverted to the Vaux-Saint-Cyr family. It was built on the site of an earlier castle, owned by the Lords of Clermont du Dauphiné and then the Dizimieu family, who kept it until the early 19th century. It was razed to the ground by the Genevese in 1603. It is privately owned and only the exterior is accessible.

Characteristics: built of Gard stone and covered in slate, it is in the "eclectic" style that was very much in vogue in the mid-19th century, inspired mainly by the French Renaissance and the decor of the châteaux of the Loire Valley.

Listed as: historic monument since 1987.

Km 119.7

Les Echelles (Pop: 1,250)

This commune, which shares the confluence of the Guiers vif and the Guiers mort with Entre-deux-Guiers, is located halfway between Grenoble and Chambéry. Until 1860, when Savoie became part of France, it was a border town marking the boundary between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia, with the bridge over the Guiers vif marking the border between the two countries. Once criss-crossed by the Route Nationale 6, the town lies at the heart of a popular tourist region, between the Grottes des Échelles caves and the Chailles gorges, and is a member of the Cœur de Chartreuse community of municipalities, as well as the Chartreuse Regional Nature Park. Its position as a border town, ideal for smuggling, led to frequent visits in the eighteenth century by the brigand Mandrin and his men. Stendhal also had a house in Les Echelles, as his uncle was mayor of the commune. The town hall is housed in a former Hospitaller commandery, listed as a historic monument in 1930. In 1984, Les Échelles was the starting point for an uphill time trial in the Tour de France as far as La Ruchère (22 km), which saw Laurent Fignon win ahead of Luis Herrera and Pedro Delgado.

Caves of Saint-Christophe

The caves are famous for their proximity to the Sardinian Way and to the border between France and the Duchy of Savoy, and later the Kingdom of Sardinia, where they were for a long time a border post on the road from Paris to Turin. The "Sardinian Way" is a natural gorge that was once a road and provides access to the site of the caves. Its name comes from the fact that the Dukes of Savoy, future kings of Sardinia, adapted this passage (already built by the Romans) into a royal road for stagecoaches during the 17th century. In 1649, further work was undertaken by the regent Christine de France to consolidate the canal wall that ran alongside the route, before her son, Duke Charles-Emmanuel II of Savoy, had an ashlar ramp built between 1667 and 1670 to facilitate passage and complete the route towards the Guiers valley. A monument dedicated to Charles-Emmanuel II of Savoy was erected on this route in 1674, just before the entrance to the caves. It was listed as a historic monument in 1952. According to some sources, one of the many caves in the area known as the cave of Les Echelles was home to the famous French smuggler Louis Mandrin, who hid his treasure there.

ISÈRE (38)

Region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Population: 1.2 million (16 pc of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Prefecture: Grenoble

Sub-prefectures: Vienne, La Tour du Pin

Number of communes: 521

Surface area: 7,431 Km² (11 p of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Major sports clubs: FC Grenoble (rugby), Brûleurs de loups (ice hockey), GF38 (football), CSBJ (rugby), Les bruleurs, Les ours de Villard (hockey), Rugby Sassenage Isère (women's rugby).

Economy: Industry, electronics, digital, micro and nanoelectronics, IT, research, health, hydroelectricity, chemicals and the environment, energy, spa treatments, tourism

Main tourist attractions: Domaine de Vizille, Grande Chartreuse monastery, Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, Choroanche caves, Grenoble cable car, Grenoble museum, Chartreuse cellars, Musée Dauphinois, St Hilaire du Touvet funicular, Crémieu, Vienne, Walibi Rhône-Alpes park, Europe's largest skiable glacier at Les Deux-Alpes.

Websites and social networks: www.alpesishere.com / www.cyclo-alpes.com / www.isere.fr

Km 122.2

St. Christophe sur Guiers (840 hab.)

Gorges du Guiers-Vif

These gorges are located on the borders of the Isère and Savoie départements, marked by the course of the Guiers Vif, in the Chartreuse massif, upstream of the Échaillon gorges. In 1994, a new road linked Saint-Pierre-d'Entremont in Savoie directly to Corbel. It passes through the gorges of the Guiers vif. Due to its narrowness and steep gradients, this road is a priority for local residents and is not recommended for use in the middle of winter.

SAVOIE (73)

Region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes

Population: 442,500

Surface area: 6,028 km²

Number of cantons: 19

Number of communes: 273

Prefecture: Chambéry (59,629 inhabitants)

Sub-prefectures: Albertville, St-Jean-de-Maurienne

Economy: tourism, agri-food, eco-industries, mountain industries, composite materials, information and communication technologies, metalworking, etc.

Culture: Musilac in Aix-les-Bains, Les Estivales en Savoie in Chambéry, Le Grand Bivouac in Albertville, Les Arcs European Film Festival, etc.

Websites and social networks : www.savoie.fr / https://www.facebook.com/SavoieDepartement/ / https://twitter.com/SavoieDepart / https://www.savoie-mont-blanc.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/savoiemontblancFR/ / @savoiemontblancFR / https://twitter.com/SavoieMontBlanc / @SavoieMontBlanc #SavoieMontBlanc / https://www.pinterest.fr/savoiemontblanc/ / https://www.instagram.com/savoiemontblanc/ / https://www.youtube.com/user/SavoieMontBlanc

Km 136.9

Entremont-le-Vieux (Pop: 650)

In 1988, one of the most important archaeological sites of cave bears was discovered inside a cave on the side of the Granier massif. This discovery led to in-depth research into the existence of these animals in the valley. A museum is dedicated to them.

https://musee-ours-cavernes.com/

Km 142

Col du Granier

The Col du Granier is crossed on its least demanding side. It has been crossed a total of 17 times by the men's Tour de France between 1947 and 2012. More recently, the Criterium du Dauphiné rode it in 2023 and 2024 (with Thibaut Guernalec in the lead).

Km 144.4

Apremont (Pop: 970)

This commune gave its name to the white wine produced here. The Apremont vintage extends over three communes (Apremont, Saint-André-les-Marches and Saint-Baldoph) totalling 400 hectares. It is the most important cru in Savoie. This success is due to the scale of its production. This wine is sold throughout France. The Apremont cru comprises 121 winegrowers, a cooperative cellar, 4 wine merchants and around twenty cellars open to the public. The limestone soils in the commune of Apremont, caused by the landslide of 24 November 1248, are particularly well-suited to the production of white wines, and their production is three times greater than that of red wines. All that remains of the once mighty Château d'Apremont (13th century) is a few rare vestiges housed in a modern house.

Km 150.5

Montagnole (Pop: 1,000)

Montagnole is remembered in cycling circles for the 1989 road world championships, where the Montagnole climb was one of the key sectors of the course: Jeannie Longo and Greg LeMond won here.