ル・グラン・ボルナンの湖・トップ14

A beautifully landscaped bathing lake with many sports and leisure opportunities

Very popular spot in summer. If you have a little strength in your legs to spare, don't stop at the lake, go up to the Balafrasse pass which gives a breathtaking view of the first as well as the Aravis range and Mont Blanc.

The "Lac des Iles" is an artificial lake created in the 1970s following the excavation of the materials necessary for the creation of the A40 motorway. It is designed for leisure activities and in particular swimming: - supervised beach in summer, - grassy coves, - activities: mini-golf, small electric boats, orienteering course, fitness trail, karting... - water pleasures: windsurfing, stand-up paddle, fishing...

Wonderfully located in a protected valley, a wonderful hiking destination for a rest, in summer with a hut that is open all day, otherwise only on weekends or not at all.

Lake Bénit is located at an altitude of 1,452 meters, on the northern slope (ubac) of the Bargy chain, in the Bornes1 massif. It is dominated to the south by the limestone wall of the Bargy chain from where the scree of the Col d'Encrenaz cirque spills out and delimits the south-west shore of the lake. The northwest bank corresponds to the slope of the old glacial basin while the east bank opens onto the valley of the Lac Bénit stream. In 1988, Father Arsène Bourgeaux, ethnographer, in a publication dedicated to the parish, indicated that the lake, “for the inhabitants of the Mont is considered as a sort of founding place where the identity of a population originates” 7. The lake was the subject of processions by the populations of Marnaz and Mont-Saxonnex, on Saint Claude's Day, in order to protect the villages from flooding. The lake benefited from developments in the early 1960s, notably with the raising of the lake level, which made it possible to double its surface area7. The inauguration took place on July 11, 19657. A mass was improvised by priest Claude Scherantz. Lake Bénit is the subject of many legends. One of them relates that the fairies came to bathe there and were at the origin of the production of butter and tomme in the town. A second legend says that an episcopal ring is found in the lake9. Following a deadly avalanche, the bishop of the diocese is said to have gone “in a grand procession” to bless the lake and to have thrown “his episcopal ring into the waves asking heaven that such a catastrophe never happens again”9. Another version says that the object was so heavy that it fell into the lake at the time of the blessing9. According to this legend, an avalanche emptied the lake and flooded Marnaz below4. Finally Alphonse Favre (en) reports that “this lake is due to a collapse in which a fir forest disappeared. As for the time, it can only be established in a very doubtful manner, by the fact that an old man from the village of Brezon assured, around 1845, that this event had happened in his father's youth. »1

Great lake, with lots of sporting opportunities for everyone

Avoid July, August and especially do not bring your pets, wildlife is to be protected.

Passage offering a view of the lake and leading to the green needle from which we have a view of the whole valley.