Talloires on the Lake Annecy
Is this little town in the Haute-Savoie the best kept secret?
While it’s true I love the fresh feelings of returning to routines and reuniting with my tribes for la rentrée (back to school), this year that sentiment evaporated faster than usual. Maybe it’s because my husband is shooting a film in Provence while I have to manage family obligations (middle school applications, kid’s activities, homework in a language I speak poorly, and school meetings) with professional obligations and events (Paris Design Week, Paris Fashion Week, Foire du Chatou, managing a small business and book promotion). I can’t deliver the response, “oh sorry I can’t because I am out of town.” Instead I am trying to find ways to organize my time and constantly reminding myself that it’s okay to say “no,” more often. I am incredibly social, but I deeply desire and need moments to myself. Anyone else feel this way?
In a previous substack, I shared how important it is to stop creating to be creative or to stop being productive to produce. I do this on Fridays. However another necessity for me is taking a solo trip a few times a year. I probably should write a Case for the Solo Trip but I bet nobody needs convincing about taking a trip alone do they?
This past Summer I discovered a magical town called Talloires on the Lake Annecy. I went for a solo trip and but it’s a perfect place to return with the family or friends.
Talloires feels like a secret that I am excited to share with you. A French friend confirmed that not too many people know about this part of what is a very touristy lake in France. The town is incredibly small and you can’t see it when you drive around the lake, so I imagine that’s how it gets overlooked. Travelers usually go to visit the bigger town of Annecy, which I spent one night in and don’t need to visit again anytime soon.
Side note: I am still debating how I share travel info. Should it be wrapped in detailed oversharing of my adventure or just the helpful facts? Sometimes I just want to see pics and get information that I can use to plan my own trip. Let’s play around and see how it goes. Open for feedback in the comments. For now I will try both and see what you prefer. If you want just the basic travel details to save, then scroll to the bottom of this post.
I drove an hour from Geneva to Annecy after depositing my children at Summer camp in the Swiss mountains and Thomas at the train station. (They went to camp and he had to work in Avignon). I spent one night at a very touristy and forgettable hotel in the town of Annecy then drove 30 minutes along the lake to very picturesque town on Talloires.
Talloires, which is now technically called Talloires-Montmin since 2016, is a tiny resort town in the Haute-Savoie, in the south-eastern part of France. The population is about 1600 and it only has a church, a bank, post office, and a small grocery store. However there are a few lakeside hotels with spas, a few camping areas and a lot of people hiking and biking around. For me it felt like a cross between a medieval town and Hawaii…? Maybe not the best description. But the water was the perfect turquoise color and every direction you look so see the French Alps.
The first four nights I stayed at the Abbaye Talloires directly on the lake. This hotel has a 1000 year old history and claims a few famous names have passed through including Mark Twain and Paul Cezanne. There is a wellness area if you want to book a massage and a jacuzzi, which I never made it to because I went to the Auberge instead. More on that below. When I take a solo vacation, I usually prefer hotels with restaurants in case I don’t feel like going far. And it’s a plus when where are two so I have choices. The Abbaye has a gastronomical restaurant and what they called a bistronomical restaurant, which I found to be a silly name because it’s just an outdoor option with charcuterie and cheese platters.
My favorite part of the Abbaye and what will make me return a few times is the pontoon along the lake. Every morning, I got up super early, walked around the lake a bit, then put my bag down on my chair to claim my spot before heading to breakfast. The chairs are first come, first serve, so a lovely guy from the hotel whispered to me that I should drop a bag on my desired chair every morning to claim my spot. So that is what I did every morning. Then I basically spent hours on that chair on the lake reading, napping, scanning my QR code to order food and drinks at the “bistronomical” outdoor restaurant. I jumped in the lake a few times and returned to my pontoon chair. With my bag holding my chair and assurance from the hotel staff that my belongings were safe, I even left for a few hours to walk down the street for a spa appointment at a near by hotel.
A five minute walk from my hotel was the L’Auberge du Père Bise, a 5-star Relais & Châteaux hotel I originally wanted to stay at. Unfortunately the only available rooms were very much out of my budget. I was bummed to not stay there until I realized that I can enjoy their spa, bar, and restaurants then walk 5 minutes back to my hotel.
I found myself at the Auberge a few times during the week for massages, which comes with access to their indoor pool for an hour. I also booked a 60 euro sophrology class on a rainy day and enjoyed the pool, sauna and hammam afterwards.
The Auberge was also a great spot for me to have lunch or dinner solo in their garden facing the lake with my kindle.
For my last night of solo vacation, I decided to change things up and moved to the Le Cottage Bise, which is in between the Abbaye and L’Auberge. The are all a 2-3 minute walk from one another. I was lucky to get a room facing the lake and since I no longer had rights to my perch on the pontoon, I enjoyed the pool at the cottage. The room was bright and modern, which I appreciated. There was a gym and a spa, but as I had already tried a few treatments during the week, my time at the Cottage was mostly spent lusciously being a sloth.
It will be hard to decide which hotel to stay at when I return with my family or friends, but I know this little town will be a spot I will share and enjoy again soon because I can’t keep this secret to myself.
The notes:
Hotel Abbaye Talloires
2 Chem des Moines
74290 Talloires-Montmin
Visit their site here.
Rooms: I stayed in a standard room with a view onto the cloisters. It was very modern and spacious but I would have preferred the rooms full of antiques and historical charm that I saw on the website and a garden or lake view. A hot tip the staff shared with me is when you book your room, if you want the charming rooms you see on the website as opposed to a modern one, you need to call and request “chambre du patrimoine.”
Food: There are two restaurants. One is a gastronomical restaurant with a large garden and you absolutely have to make a reservation ahead of time. They don’t guarantee a table for hotel guests. The second restaurant is more of a bar that serves light charcuterie and cheese platters in the front garden and on the pontoon. This was ideal for light afternoon lakeside lunches.
Extras: There is a small wellness area with a room for massages and a jacuzzi. It’s not a full spa, so you need to reserve a massage with the front desk and the organize a masseuse to come for your service. I admit that I never visited the wellness area because I ended up at the fancier Auberge a few doors down.
Hot Tip: The hotel staff whispered to me that I should put my bag on my pontoon chair in the morning to reserve my spot for the day.
Auberge Père Bise
303 Rte du Port
74290 Talloires-Montmin
Visit their site here.
Rooms: I didn’t stay at the Auberge but from their website, the rooms look très chic.
Food: There are two restaurants at the Auberge. There is the fancy Le Restaurant de Jean Sulpice which has two Michelin stars and options to sit inside or on the terrace. I was not able to get a reservation for any nights, so I highly recommend booking in advance. It’s only open for dinner. The second restaurant is Le 1903 which is also by the chef (and owner) Jean Sulpice and is only open for lunch and equally challenging to get a table. Le Marius Bar is where I had lunch a few times and even dinner one evening. I was surprised by how generous the portions are and enjoyed sitting right on the lake with my kindle.
Extras: The Auberge is full of extras! The spa is to die for and the little cute boutique is ideal to find some sweet treats to enjoy on the lake or for presents. They sell wine, chocolates, desserts, and packaged sweet and salty goods.
Hot Tip: You don’t need to stay at the Auberge to profiter, as the French would say, from most of the services such as the restaurants and the spa
Cottage Bise
390 Rte du Port
04 50 60 71 10
Visit their site here.
Rooms: I was shocked at the rather low price point for a large room facing the lake. You can’t use the pontoon, but there is a pool and there were a few grassy areas where I saw travelers picnic along the lake close to the hotel.
Food: I enjoyed the vast breakfast buffet with the lake view and probably over did it because then I had a lobster ceasar salad for lunch and a pavlova for dessert. I made a local friend who told me a lot of people from the village enjoy eating at the Cottage.
Extras: There is a gym and spa that I didn’t have time to visit because I decided to spend my one night here being as calm and chill as possible, but it looked cute.
Hot Tip: You can also stay at the other two hotels and visit the Cottage for lunch or dinner, which is ideal if you grow exhausted of gastronomical food as I did.
Coucou! This post is free to everyone and it’s an example of the kind of content that will soon be exclusive to paid subscribers. I hope you like it and consider upgrading if you haven’t already. I spent two months traveling this past Summer and have a lot to share. Have a lovely week. Bisous xx, Ajiri
Next time take me with you (I’ll sit on a different lounger so you can have your alone time 😂). Love this part of France!
This is my favorite place on earth, and I've been a couple of times. So wonderful to see you enjoy it.