Thônes from the Petit-Bornand campsite: reblochon, market and Morette (Glières-Val-de-Borne)

Thônes is the market town of the Aravis, about twenty kilometres from the campsite: allow 25 to 30 minutes by road to the town hall. It is reblochon country, a natural stop on the way to Annecy, and the gateway to the Morette site, one of the memorial sites of the Glières maquis.

Reblochon, from farm to cooperative

Reblochon is a PDO cheese made from whole raw cow's milk in eastern Haute-Savoie and the Val d'Arly, under INAO specifications. In Thônes, the Reblochon fermier cooperative runs a shop, Le Farto, on the Avenue d'Annecy. Its opening hours and tours vary with the season and sources disagree: call before you go. A common mix-up: the reblochon festival is in La Clusaz, not Thônes.

The Saturday market and the Saint-Maurice fair

Thônes market is held on Saturday mornings in the town centre, all year round. Every year, on the last Saturday of September, the Saint-Maurice fair turns the town into a big agricultural festival: livestock and cheese contests, lumberjack shows, a producers' market, all free.

The Morette site

Between Thônes and Lake Annecy, in the municipality of La Balme-de-Thuy, the Morette site brings together the Glières national cemetery, the departmental museum of the Haute-Savoie Resistance and the departmental memorial to the Deportation. It completes a visit to the Glières plateau: the departmental council suggests allowing an hour's drive between the two sites.

From the campsite

Thônes combines well with a day in Annecy, via Morette, or with La Clusaz and Le Grand-Bornand. The Thônes market on Saturday mornings and Le Petit-Bornand's on Sundays let you fill the cool box with local produce for your stay.