Saturday, October 14, marked the 44th edition of the “Retour des Alpages” festival, an important event in the life of Annecy.

As part of the French class’s educational activities, eleven students met with their teacher in the morning to discuss the traditional festivals of their countries while sitting at a café terrace. Frédéric then introduced them to this local festival, which attracts many visitors from the region and even from farther away.

He then took the group through the streets of Annecy to see demonstrations of traditional crafts, including the making of “bidoyon” (a Savoyard term for freshly pressed apple juice), taste “chèvre” (a surprising local drink), and watch the preparation of other local specialties such as bugnes, diots de Savoie (Savoie sausages cooked in white wine), and tartiflette (potatoes with melted Reblochon cheese and bacon).

To continue practicing French as a foreign language, the students listened to a cheese producer who explained the process of making Tome des Bauges (a thick-rind cheese made in the mountains near Annecy). They also got to see a threshing machine used to make flour.

In the early afternoon, the students went to watch the parade (which featured folk groups, horn players [playing an instrument called the alphorn], and many animals: cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, chickens, and St. Bernard dogs).

The Return from the Mountain Pastures is a tradition that continues in our region: in October, the animals come down from the mountains (the alpine pastures) where they have spent the warmer months. They will return to the mountains in the spring.

Folklore isn’t forgotten: the parade takes place to the sound oftraditional songs and to the rhythm of dances from days gone by (in period costumes).

Every year, CILFA organizes an activity for its students as part of this must-see event in the city of Annecy.

To watch some videos of the Return to the Alpine Pastures: http://annecytraditions.free.fr/2/gallery?lang=fr&onglet=19

To learn more about the drink “la chèvre”: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A8vre_(drink)