Get Inspired

If you're looking to get away from it all for a weekend or just to enjoy your vacation, Môle & Brasses Tourisme is the perfect destination. Môle & Brasses tourism is the perfect destination to surprise you! A mountain territory with unspoilt nature, unforgettable landscapes and a wealth of activities.

You must see

Original, adventurous, family-friendly, gourmet... we promise that any trip to Môle & Brasses Tourisme will have its share of adventures! But to get your stay off to a good start, here's our to-do list of must-sees that you shouldn't miss under any circumstances!

Hiking
Hiking trail - The summit of Les Brasses from Les Lavouets

The climb is visible, so there is no difficulty in reaching the summit except for the final climb, which is a little steeper. Step-by-step guide available by clicking on the printer icon.

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Hiking
Hiking trail - The summit of Les Brasses from La Joux

The La Joux mountain pasture offers wonderful panoramic views of the Arve Valley and the Aravis peaks. Throughout the walk, you can admire the view on your left. Keep an eye out for the many birds of prey flying above the pastures : kestrels, bearded vultures, and more. The highlight of the show is at the summit of Pointe des Brasses (1,503 m), where you can enjoy a spectacular view of Mont Blanc ! Step-by-step guide available by clicking on the printer icon.

Walk
Walk around the Mole's Lake

The Lac du Môle is a plain lake located between the communes of Ville-en-Sallaz and La Tour, in the department of Haute Savoie (74), in the Massif des Alpes, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Located in the Mont Blanc region, with an area of 11 hectares, in an idyllic, wild and protected setting, it is a paradise for nature lovers, hikers and fishermen. It has a remarkable fauna and flora with plants endemic to this mountainous region used for phytotherapy. The banks are lined with water lilies and provide a generous home for fish, frogs and herons. It offers a good density of carnivorous fish (pike, perch, black bass), white fish (bream, roach) and common carp. You can also find some nice trout.

Fishing
Môle Lake

It is important to read the information boards at the entrance to the lake. PLEASE NOTE THAT FISHING AT NIGHT IS FORBIDDEN (except for carp fishing, more information from the Haute-Savoie Fishing Federation or the Tourist Office) 4 ROD-MOUNTED LINES WITH 2 HOOKS OR 3 ARTIFICIAL FLIES AT MOST FISHING CARD AVAILABLE AT THE TOURIST OFFICE IN VIUZ-EN-SALLAZ

Hiking
Hiking trail - The summits of Ecutieux and Môle

Stage 1 : Tête de l'Écutieux (1,627 m) – a wild warm-up : The hike starts from the hamlet of Chez Béroud, in the village of Saint-Jean-de-Tholome. A balcony trail gently leads you through woods, clearings, and pastures. The ascent of Tête de l’Écutieux takes place in a peaceful, shaded setting, with beautiful views of the Arve Valley. Stage 2 : Le Môle (1863m) – the panoramic apotheosis : From the Tête de l'Écutieux, a ridge trail leads to the slopes of Le Môle. The atmosphere gradually changes : the terrain becomes more open, the climb steeper, the horizons wider, and the view increasingly spectacular. The final steeper ascent of Le Môle rewards you with an exceptional 360° panorama of the Alpine massifs : Mont Blanc, Aravis, Chablais, Jura... a veritable natural orientation table ! Step-by-step guide available by clicking on the printer icon.

Hiking
Hiking trail - Le Môle from Chez Béroud

At the summit, a 360° panorama offers a splendid view of the Mont Blanc, the Aravis, the Arve Valley, the Chablais region, and Lake Geneva. At the summit, a 360° panorama offers a splendid view of Mont Blanc, the Aravis, the Arve Valley, the Chablais region, and Lake Geneva. The hike to climb it does not present any particular difficulties. The ascent takes 2 hours and 10 minutes for a total hiking time of 3 hours and 35 minutes. It was from the summit of the Môle in 1775 that the Englishman Schuckburgh estimated the height of Mont Blanc to be 4,804 m (the official altitude being 4,810 m). Walkthrough available by clicking on the printer icon.

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Castle
Vestiges of the Château de Faucigny, a PAYSALP culture and heritage site

Discover the story of this family in an original way during dramatized tours for children's groups (all year round) and PAYSALP events in summer.

#history
Hiking
Hiking trail - Le Petit Môle from Chez Béroud

To climb up to Petit Môle (1534m) from the parking lot, go towards the wide alpine trail that starts in the forest. The route is well indicated. Indeed, you always stay on the main trail until you reach the orientation table and the alpine chalets. From there, you can enjoy the panorama of the Arve Valley, the Bargy chain, the Aravis chain and Mont Blanc. The return is then done by the same route. Possibility to extend the ascent to the top of the Môle to discover a panorama at 360 ° C (see ''Hiking trail - Le Môle from Chez Béroud'' for a complete description.) Walkthrough available by clicking on the printer icon.

MTB
Plaine Joux - Tour de la Pointe de Miribel

There are some nice single-tracks on the course. The ascent to the Pointe de Miribel is a way of the cross and offers a beautiful panorama but is done on foot. Access to the start: Between Bogève and Mégevette, at the car park of the Plaine Joux cross-country skiing centre.

#winter sport
History
The millstones of Mont Vouan

Historically, millstones were used to grind rye, barley and other grains into flour. A one-tonne millstone could produce several hundred kilos of flour every day. It should be remembered that our ancestors ate more than a kilo of bread a day ! In the past, a millstone was worth the price of a house, so places were highly sought after. While not everyone was capable of cutting a millstone, finding where to cut it was even more difficult ! Millstones were extracted as follows : The millstone was marked out on the rock face and a groove was dug around it. Fir wedges were driven into the groove and regularly wetted. The swelling of the wood detached the millstone by breaking the stone. The Mont Vouan millstone extraction site was extremely important as it was one of the largest in south-eastern France, producing more than 200,000 millstones from 72 quarries. At the foot of the Vachat millstone lies the Pierre aux Morts marsh, or ‘Gouille aux Morts’, which serves as a reminder of how difficult it was to cut millstones, as the stonecutters often took great risks. The pond was named after the fall of two stonecutters while they were working on a Sunday (the Lord's Day!). Le Vouan, a small mountain range at 978 m, was also crossed by a smugglers' path. The smugglers brought wheat from the Moulin de Pont Morand mill to Geneva and returned with alcohol, tobacco and other goods. Today, you can still see large round holes nearly 2 m high in the rock where the millstones were extracted. They are part of the ancient Meulières à Vachat and Grand'Gueule, classified as a ‘Historic Monument’ since 2009 and a ‘Sensitive Natural Area’ since 2017. PAYSALP offers tours for groups throughout the year. Information and bookings: www.paysalp.fr

#culture #history
Activity
Yoga hike

Paragliding
Parachute jumping

#sport
Cultural
Viuz, Nid d'Espions - Explor Games

A mix of an orienteering course and an outdoor Escape Game, the Explor Games ‘Viuz, nid d'espions’ takes you, your family and friends alike, back to Viuz-en-Sallaz in the 1960s. Your mission: to investigate a case of espionage where puzzles and challenges await you around every corner. Are you up to the challenge? The adventure is waiting for you! Monday to Friday (except public holidays): Departures at 10am and 2.30pm From age 10 - 2 hours By reservation: www.paysalp.fr (a deposit will be required on site) Departure from the Musée PAYSAN in Viuz-en-Sallaz

Our best hikes

Something for everyone! Easy or difficult hikes, in the woods or on the ridges, here's a selection of our best walks.

Cultural activities

Môle & Brasses Toursime is also an area full of stories and secrets just waiting to be discovered! Dive into the heart of our past through several centuries of history, where objects and anecdotes are waiting to be discovered.

Cuisine and local produce

Discover our cuisine and the land that makes us proud!

The Epougnes

Epougnes are a leavened dough-based speciality which, enhanced with butter, eggs and sugar, resembles a sourdough brioche, often worked into a crown. Traditionally, epougnes were baked every year in February for the Saint-Blaise fair, patron saint of the Viuz-en-Sallaz church.
Each family has its own personalized version of the recipe...

Les bescoins

Savoyard brioches, spiced up with green anise and colored with saffron, gourmet and original. It's such a deep-rooted local tradition that La Maison des Douceurs, the bakery in Onnion, bequeathed the bescoins recipe along with the bakery walls when it changed hands.
Traditionally eaten for breakfast, here we prefer to vary the pleasures. For example, it's eaten on toast with goat's cheese and honey. If you're more of a traditionalist, then the custom is to leave the bescoin to stale, before eating it buttered or spread with jam and dipped in a hot drink.

Rissoles

If you haven't tried them yet, you've at least heard of rissoles, or "rézules" in French dialect, these little turnovers filled with pear or apple compote, jam, or sometimes even a savory filling. Delicious, melt-in-your-mouth and comforting, rissoles can be eaten all year round, but are a real must-have for the end-of-year festivities throughout Haute Savoie.
Rissole tastings often grace Christmas markets. A "r'zules competition" was even organized for the first time at Viuz-en-Sallaz in 2021.

Tom'Ly® to melt your heart!

Inspired by the traditional reblochons en croûte from Haute-Savoie, the Tom'Ly is a fuller, even more gourmet version, made in Viuz-en-Sallaz! It's a pure invention of the chef's, born on a day of confinement! Forced to close his restaurant during long months of confinement, Yoann Boiteux, chef of La Table d'Emilie, found himself working as a home cook for his wife and 2 children. To satisfy his most demanding customers, he has to innovate.
Prepared in the style of a pie, he wraps a delicious, melting heart of farmhouse reblochon, potatoes, grilled onions, country bacon and cured mountain ham in a gourmet puff pastry... all sprinkled with a touch of perlimpinpin powder and BIM, you've got the Tom'Ly®!
The little extra that makes all the difference: all the products used come from local producers, including Reblochon from the Jourdil farm in Bogève. Thanks to its success, it's now a registered trademark, and it's only in Viuz-en-Sallaz!

Our region

Before becoming a tourist destination, Môle & Brasses Tourisme was a mid-mountain living area where peasant farming still flourishes.
Boosted by its proximity to Switzerland, it is known and recognized for its 3 emblematic sites: the Les Brasses resort, the Plaine Joux plateau and the start of Le Môle, which each year welcome beginners to downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, hiking and trail running. The range of activities is as varied in winter as it is in summer, but also in spring and autumn, with a multiplicity of service providers offering original activities: yoga hikes, bivouac hikes, stag belling, caving, ice-water swimming...

The destination's little plus? Little-known sites such as Mont Vouan, whose famous millstones are listed as a historic monument. The region has the unique ability to abound in "little hidden treasures", as we say here.

As a local destination, the challenge is not just to attract visitors from outside the region or to attract new travellers. It's also about offering a tourism proposal to the local target group: helping the people who live in Môle & Brasses Tourisme to discover or rediscover the area. Let everyone meet once again the unspoilt nature and local producers that make the area so attractive.

Our towns

Môle et Brasses is also about local life ...

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