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Montmin, Alpine
Village
 The
village of Montmin is comprised of seven hamlets, totalling some
two hundred inhabitants. The seven hamlets occupy a four-mile
long valley which is bordered on the west by Mt. Chenevier, and
on the east by the impressive and snow-capped Tournette massif.
Local legend states that Noah's Ark landed at the Col de l'Aulp,
whose valley is indeed shaped like a ship; Noah is claimed to
have planted the lakeside vineyards of Talloires which produced
wines and brandy until the 1950s. The mean elevation of the village
is 1000 meters, or 3250 feet above sea level. First settled in
the early Middle Ages,shortly after the year 1000, the hamlets
were farming communities that existed almost entirely independent
of the outside world until the advent of modern transportation.
With the arrival of modern roads
and vehicles, Montmin has become a tourist attraction reknowned
for the scenic Col de la
Forclaz mountain pass, one of the premier hang-gliding
and paragliding sites in Europe. Montmin recently hosted the
1995 Hang-Gliding Championships of France. And in July
1997 Montmin watched the Tour de France bicycle race come through
the community, up from Faverges, over the Col de la Forclaz and
back down toward Bluffy and the high Alps to the east. Unlike
its neighbors in the high Alps (La Clusaz, Megève, etc.),
Montmin has not become a vast urbanized winter playground crisscrossed
with ski lifts and dotted with large hotels and apartment buildings.
Cautious zoning and deliberately limited development have allowed
Montmin to retain much of its charm as a quiet agricultural community,
even though it is a mere twenty minutes from downtown Annecy.
In the winter, Montmin's small ski lifts are known as a good
place for beginning and intermediate skiers; many of the villagers
are certified ski instructors, and many children of the Annecy
and Faverges area first learned to ski in Montmin. In the summer,
the same lifts are used for summer sports. Montmin's principal
claim to fame is as the starting point of several popular hiking
trails, including the scenic climb up Mt Tournette, the tallest
mountain overlooking Lake Annecy.
There are three hotels and several
restaurants in Montmin. These offer comfortable accommodations
and traditional Savoy country cooking. The local cheese dairy
farms produce the reknowned Tomme and Reblochon
cheeses for which the area is famous.
NEW
IN MONTMIN
The village has just opened a campground and chalet in the unspoiled
and scenic Pré-Vérel. Formerly a farmer's refuge,
the building has been restored and brought up to code. It offers
a small camping ground refuge (sleeping quarters) for groups
a restaurant
It is open every day in July and August, as well as weekends
in Spring and Autumn. Information and reservations available
by calling (0) 607.135.072
Please contact the Tourism
Office of Faverges (TEL:(0)450.446.024)
or the Mairie de Montmin (Town Hall) (TEL:(0)450.607.105,
FAX:(0)450.607.823) for more information about Montmin and its
neighboring communities.
Page and images ©
1996, 1999 by Robert F. Jeantet
updated Mar 24 1999
end of the Montmin web page
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