At the heart of the Aravis range in Haute Savoie ideally located between Mont Blanc, the Lake of Annecy and Switzerland, Le Grand-Bornand gives you the best of the Alps! Grand Bornand is of course a tourist resort, in summer as in winter, but it is also a real village with its own charm and here nature, ever generous, has done its very best?
Everything starts with the Aravis range, a splendid backdrop capped at 2750 meters by the Pointe Percée, the symbolic peak of the range, from which beautiful, green, wooded and accessible slopes run down into the village.
The commune is divided into 2 parts: at 1000 metres altitude you find Le Grand-Bornand Village with at its backdrop the splendid Valley of the Bouchet, a favourite cross country ski area ?
Six kilometres higher up, Le Grand-Bornand Chinaillon, the upper part of the resort at 1300 metres altitude, the main starting point for downhill runs, whose old village dates from the 17th century and has been very well conserved.
A resort which is alive all the year round.
A well known winter sport resort, Le Grand-Bornand is also the summer mountain resort, offering numerous activities: aqua fitness centre, acrobatic centre, ten hole golf course, fitness course, archery, tennis, mountain bike tracks, miniature golf, theme parks, Via Ferrata, cable car, para-gliding school, ballooning ?
An intensive agricultural life.
The leading agricultural commune in Haute Savoie with more than 60 farm properties, Le Grand-Bornand is the birth place of the flavoursome reblochon cheese, one of the flowers of Savoyard gastronomy, which was born here several centuries ago.
Outstanding chalets.
Le Grand-Bornand without its chalets would not be Grand Bornand ! Spread all over the village (over 500 can be counted) , they are often 1, 2 or 300 years old? How do you recognise a Grand-Bornand chalet ? From typical architectural elements such as "La pointe d?âne" ? the master beam of the building ? the "solaret" ? a light and airy hay loft -, the "credence"- a kitchen cupboard built into the wall -, or the little grain store next to the main house in which one kept "goodies"? Covered in wood with protected balconies and warm interiors, these chalets are considered as the real jewels of alpine heritage.
There is also the splendid bulb church tower or the miniature chapels and oratories which are all over the village and around which the various hamlets were constructed.
The customs and traditions of yesteryear are also honoured notably by the folklore group "Lou Brafaudi" and the musical groups of the resort.
Finally the traditional reblochon market on Wednesdays mornings and the fairs and traditional feast days are so many authentic moments.
This first generation resort has continued to respect its environment and tradition and the old village has kept its soul- which is Savoyard above all.
Remember also all along your way that "landscape is the most beautiful historical monument" ?
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