At Excenevex, there’s no need to choose between the beach and the mountains.
Imagine yourself on a beach in Franceand your mind will likely wander to the luxe shore of theFrench Riviera , sipping champagne in glamorous Saint - Tropez orCannes . Or maybe you ’re island hopping in Corsica , or sunbathing on the unspoiled dunes of Cap Ferret . The level is , you ’re most likely thinking of somewhereon the coast . When someone says “ beach , ” you do n’t typically think of going inland .
But you absolutelyshouldgo inland . The underrated Haute - Savoie neighborhood , which you might recognise fromthe Olympian great mullein relay route , is household to fourglacier - sculpted outstanding lakesnestled inthe Alps : Lac Annecy , Lac Bourget , Lac d’Aiguebelette , and Lac Léman , aka Lake Geneva . The orotund of the bunch , Lac Léman straddles Switzerland and France . On the French side you ’ll receive recourse metropolis like Évian - LE - Bains ( where the water comes from ) , as well as lesser - known communes like the postcard - perfect medieval town of Yvoire , about 40 moment aside . Around the corner from Yvoire is the even lesser - know Excenevex , population 1,097 . It ’s here that you ’ll encounter the only naturally sandy beach on Lac Léman which , if not for the views of the Swiss metropolis of Lausanne on the other side , feels like it could be on a coast .
You could call Plage d’Excenevex a “ conceal stone , ” but that would be word to the locals . In 2022 Mélodie Deruaz and her hubby Etienne Begin took over the beachsideHotel de la Plage , which has been in surgery since 1928 and looks like something out ofa Wes Anderson film . “ It ’s been a love story between me and the hotel since I was tike , ” says Deruaz , who remember gossip the hotel for celebratory lunches . “ One Clarence Day I sound out , like a child ’s aspiration , ‘ When I ’m an grownup , I ’ll buy this hotel . ’ Fifteen years subsequently , this dream arrive true . ”
Courtesy of Hotel de la Plage
The beach — and the hotel — is a popular stop on theTour du Lac Léman , 109 mile of connecting bicycle trail that loop around Lake Geneva . It ’s also a go - to for the sport of ocean wading , which spring up in the Frederick North of France . Most of the year it ’s a subdued cut of arenaceous paradise where visitors can lounge while carry in sensational Alpine flock views — including the jagged , symbolic tiptop of Dent d’Oche . But make out July and August , the beach bustles with activity , with cultural festival , sand sculpture competition , volleyball , and water sports galore , include kitesurfing , thanks to the sea - like waves . Beach bar and clunk beat burst . One Tripadvisor commentator exaggeratingly liken the vibration to Ibiza . But they ’re not shy away from that – every July the beach is even host to an EDM fete , XNV Festival .
So whether you ’re look for parties , sports , account , or sunbathing with a side of mountain views , here ’s what to do on a sojourn to Plage d’Excevenex .
Engage in a purely French sport
Find a trunk of water and Virginia Wade in until you ’re drown to your thorax . Then start take the air forwards , nominate certain to finger gentle resistance . congratulation , you ’re now ocean wading . Also called " sea walk " or " aquatic hiking , " this sport begin in 2005 along the northerly French coast , when a rowing coach was looking for a way of life to improve the military capability and cardiovascular wellness of his squad . It quickly caught on , with longe - côte ( along the coast ) clubs popping up all over France . The sport soon had its own championship too .
Sea wading is overseen by the French Hiking Federation , an organization whose mission is to evolve walking and tramp activities throughout France . The sport arrived in Excenevex by way of Diego Cotta , the founding father of Les Marcheurs du Leman ( Lake Geneva tramp club ) . He first witnessed sea chock up in the South of France in 2017 , and came back to open his own golf-club , efficaciously get going the first club for lake wading . It ’s a perfect mise en scene : a beach almost a thousand feet long that ’s also inscrutable enough for logical submersion . Sea waders practice year around , wearing wetsuits in the winter in temperature that duck to 31 degree F. hear it for yourself . Or should you want to connect the club , contactDiegocotta1@aol.comfor further information .
If sea wading does n’t do it for you , there are other options for body of water adventure . Paddleboarding , foot pedal boating , canoeing , and kayaking are a few . Plus , notably , kitesurfing . The latter may have only made its Olympic debut this year but here , the sportswoman has been move unassailable .
Activities range from kitesurfing to paddleboarding.|Courtesy of Hotel de la Plage
Dine in an up-and-coming destination restaurant
A family of stonemasons and bread oven builder opened theHotel de la Plageas a node house in 1928 and it quickly became a regional standout thanks to its atypical Art Deco computer architecture , and idyllic panoramic views of the lake and Alps . Growing up one townspeople over in Sciez , Mélodie Deruaz thought of the fine sands of Plage d’Excenevex as a respite from daily life . “ It was a little Shangri-la near our firm , ” she says .
The presence of the hotel played a big role in that euphoric vibration . Here you could wake up to morning Sunday kiss the lake — Deruaz ’s favorite part — accompany by the sounds of seagulls . When she and her husband Etienne Begin took the reins of the property , they made minimum seeable changes . “ This hotel has a special soul , a timeless ambiance , ” she says . “ We never changed the crime syndicate spirit of this hotel . ”
One thing the couple did change was the eatery , helm by chef Basile Bourgeois , who start out encounter when they both worked for the upscale Sibuet hotel group in Saint - Tropez . From the nearby Saint - Paul - en - Chablais , Bourgeois has returned to his culinary roots here , with a much more sybaritic sensibility . A mean solar day - to - night fare at the hotel restaurant leans hard on local sourcing : vegetable are seasonal and fish like pole , local preferred omble cavalier , fera – a prized freshwater Pisces the Fishes from Savoy – and trout come straight from the lake ’s waters . Plus there ’s the requisite foie gras , this prison term in a straw wine , with port - poached common fig tree . Think of a Michelin - caliber repast , without the pretence .
Sea wading in Cap Ferret.|Longe Côte Lège-Cap Ferret
Walk back in time through a medieval village
Perhaps you ’ve see it in pictures , light on a peninsula in Lake Geneva : a thick medieval palace protect by a wall , swoosh by wave , a village fanning out from its sides . This isYvoire , five minutes away from Excenevex by car ( nine by bike ) but centuries aside in clock time . build up by Amédée V , the count of Savoy , in 1306 , it was originally a fishing port . wall were erected , and the castle was built with a destination of protecting the Greenwich Village from invasions by watercourse .
In the Middle Ages the town became a well-situated trading hub . Then in 1792 its fortifications were partially dismantled during the French Revolution . In the 19th one C , its residents began a restoration . Today the knightly role of the village is well preserve . A work fishermen ’s larboard now caters to tourism , as does the rest of the village . Cobblestone streets are lined with small dress shop shop selling everything from soap to jewelry to local gin . Nicknamed “ the gem of the lake , ” Yvoire is just 45 proceedings from Geneva by car and has even been hold one of themost beautiful villages in France .
But the crown jewel is the castle , which has been in d’Yvoire house since 1655 . Though the castle is not overt to the public , visitors can take a tour of the adjoiningGarden of the Five Senses , a botanic garden that serves as both a labyrinth and sensory walk of over 1,500 plants . In the Middle Ages the plants were grown for intellectual nourishment and medicative purpose ; today they are there for tactual , immersive delight , not unlike Willy Wonka ’s factory . Inhale scent and herbal scent , witness bright floral colors , pertain fuzzy petals , chew over to the sounds of bird and running pee , and , yes , eat delicious things , too . One plant , Popcorn Cassia , tastes exactly like butter Zea mays everta .
Not only is the food delicious, the views are spectacular.|Courtesy of Hotel de la Plage
The preserved medieval town of Yvoire|Vincent Courceleaud/500Px Plus/Getty Images
