In Haute-Savoie, our heritage is very present: cuisine, language, traditional costumes, folklore, old stones ... Far from the pictures, it exists thanks to those who perpetuate our traditions through ancestral know-how transmitted by our elders.
The cuisine and local products
Diots, reblochon, gnôle, sausage, tartiflette, potato fritters for the savory. Rissoles, bear paws, bescoin or meringues for the sweet. Our specialties make your mouth water.
So rather than buying them in supermarkets, with big labels, come instead to the producers! You will discover their know-how and their passion for the products they manufacture.
Patois
Patois is the language of our grandparents. Derived from Franco-Provençal, it is different depending on the place where it is spoken.
You are probably wondering why we do not say the "x" or "z" at the end of some words?
The "z" or the "x" used at the end of a name, indicates that the preceding vowel is silent as in Marnaz or Mont-Saxonnex.
If you pronounce the final z or x of these villages around here, you risk passing for a monchu (a ridiculous tourist, often Parisian: this is how the mountain dwellers of the last century called the rich Parisians who came to take the air in our mountains).
Old stones have a history
Who said old stones are boring?
They tell you about us, about the evolution of our rurality. They talk about the work of ancestors and the life they led.
The alpine chalet for example. Far from being just a wooden house, it is much more than that! It is an extension of the lowland farm, but in altitude and in summer. Like the alpine farm, which in fine weather becomes a living space for people and animals and the ideal place for cheese production.
Chalets and alpine farms were to allow optimal use of pastures, in order to ensure the production and processing of milk, but also to serve as shelter for livestock and the people in charge of them.
Without our ancestors and their traditions, our cheese wouldn't be so good!
Our folklore and traditions
Talking about our traditional dances is to transport you in the past and make you discover the relationships between the men and women of the time and shed light on the conviviality of yesteryear.
During village festivals, such as the Fête aux Bleus at the Reposoir, you will discover many traditional dances such as rounds, quadrilles or rigaudons.
