Aix-les-Bains

Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.Commune d'Aix-les-Bains (73008)
INSEE

Situated on the shore of the largest natural lake of glacial origin in France, the Lac du Bourget, this resort is a major spa town; it has the largest freshwater marina in France. It is the second largest city in the Savoie department in terms of population, with a population of 30,463 as of 2019. It is part of the Chambéry functional urban area.

A leading town of the Belle Époque, of international renown, Aix-les-Bains was a vacation destination for nobility and the wealthy. Although the thermal baths are no longer the main attraction in Aix, the area continues to be draw visitors for water sports and activities. The town has partially compensated for the loss of visitors coming for spa treatments by developing tourism. It hosts up to 200,000 general visitors annually, between tourists and people seeking mineral bath therapy. It is also an industrial city, with a few large companies such as General Electric, the headquarters of the Léon Grosse companies, ABB Cellier, Aixam, as well as a high-quality leather goods factory.

In addition to thermal baths and tourism, Aix-les-Bains is known for its national Musilac festival. It has four flowers and two golden flowers at the Concours des villes et villages fleuris, as well as the City of Art and History label.

Geography

Location

Aix-Les-Bains is located in the southeast of France, east of Lyon. The town is located in a corridor between the mountain of Mont Revard, the first natural rampart of the Massif des Bauges to the east and the Lac du Bourget, the largest natural lake of France to the west. Thus, the city extends mostly on a north–south axis. Its extension is such that its agglomeration merges gradually with that of Chambéry. The area of the commune is , which is large for the department. The town is traditionally divided into two, the lower town that occupies the banks of the lake to the west and the upper town, where the town centre is located, overlooking the Lac du Bourget. The town was first built on the heights in order to avoid the many floods of the lake until it was regulated by the dam of the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) between the Rhône and the natural spillway of lake, the Canal de Savières. The average altitude of the city is about while the lower part of it is only around , at the level of the lake.

of the Lac du Bourget watershed is occupied by the spa town of Aix, which borders on the shore. The lake is primarily fed to the south by the waters of the Leysse, and to the east, by those of the and the , both from the Aix territory. Native fish can be admired in the aquarium of Aix. The shore, which is occupied by Aix and Tresserves and nightclubs are located there (mostly on the southeastern side). A nautical complex was built on its shore, this includes a swimming pool and a beach which has an Art Deco-style main entrance dating from 1936. After which is a vast esplanade, allowing walkers to stroll and special events to settle temporarily on this site. It offers a panoramic view of the lake and the Dent du Chat, where birds such as mute swans, mallards, grey herons, black-headed gulls and common moorhens can be found.

The esplanade is bounded to the north and to the south by the ''Grand port'' and the ''Petit port'' respectively, thus constituting the Aix port which is the largest fresh water port in the country with 1,500 mooring rings, having privileged places for boating on the lake, with boats having a summer or annual allocation. The festival of yachting takes place each year. This event has old boats coming from all horizons, a professional market, demonstrations and shows.

The slopes above the lake that culminate in the Tour de l'Angle Est, which overlooks the town and lake at a height of . The western shore of the lake is narrower as the mountains along its edge are closer to the lakeshore, although lower than those on the eastern side. The lake drains out of its northern end into the River Rhône about to the north.

Neighbouring communes

The municipality of Aix-les-Bains is bordered by nine communes. To the north, the municipality adjoins the territory of Brison-Saint-Innocent. Then, to the east, in the continuity of the Aix heights, the commune of Pugny-Chatenod towards the southeast. Further to the southeast, Aix shares the boundaries of its territory with the neighbouring commune of Drumettaz-Clarafond. It follows south to the communes of Viviers-du-Lac and Tresserve. One of the specific limits of the municipal territory of the commune of Aix-les-Bains, on its western side, is the existence of the boundary imposed by the Lac du Bourget. This limit of the territory is shared with five other municipalities, these being Bourdeau, Brison-Saint-Innocent, La Chapelle-du-Mont-du-Chat, Tresserve and Viviers-du-Lac.

Climate

Aix-les-Bains, like Chambéry, has an oceanic climate ( Köppen: Cfb), with strong continental influences due to its position: far inland and near several mountain ranges, like the Jura mountains, Bauges and Bornes Massif.

Communication and transport

Aix-Les-Bains is located on the major transport axis between Chambéry and Annecy. The northern branch of the A41 motorway passes to the east of the town, allowing direct access to Annecy and then later, by the continuity of the A40, into the city of Geneva. Two junctions (13 and 14) serve the commune, one to the south, the other to the north. On the secondary network, the road crosses Aix and joins Viviers-du-Lac and Chambéry to the south. To the west, the road heads towards the south-west and the Lac du Bourget towards the commune of Le Bourget-du-Lac and, through the centre, the D991 road.

Aix-les-Bains is also accessible by train. It was one of the earliest European municipalities to host a rail network in its territory when it was administered by the Dukes of Savoie. Today, the city is connected to Chambéry and Annecy and Culoz. The Turin–Lyon high-speed railway will, in the coming years, bring together the cities of Paris, Lyon, Turin and Milan. Aix-les-Bains station has been a multimodal transport hub since 2007. Located to the west of the town centre on Boulevard de President Wilson, Aix-les-Bains-Le Revard railway station is served by the TGV, which puts the town within three hours of Paris. Aix is situated north of Chambéry, by rail.

Chambéry-Savoie Airport, formerly Aix-les-Bains/Chambéry, is located at the south of the town of Aix-les-Bains, in the commune of Voglans, a few metres from the south shore of the Lac du Bourget. It serves many countries including the UK (Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh), Denmark (Copenhagen, Billund), Sweden (Gothenburg) and, internally, Paris Orly from 2013. There are many winter flights due to the proximity of the winter sports resorts. Three low-cost carrier airlines offer regular flights. In 2002, the airport recorded a record attendance with 3,600 aircraft movements year-round, dealing with more than 10,000 passengers per weekend, mainly in winter.

In the town centre, the car is the most common mode of transport in Aix-les-Bains, despite the efforts made by the ''Association Roue Libre'' for the development of urban cycling. Traffic at peak hours is particularly difficult, especially in the summer with the influx of tourists. The portion of the D1201 road along the lake, in the direction of Chambéry, is particularly sensitive to this increase in road traffic. The same problem happens with the Rue de Genève, the Boulevard President Wilson and the Rue de Chambéry. To the north, it is similarly so on the way out of the town in the direction of Albens on the Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny. However, traffic has tended to improve with urban development promoting the emergence of roundabouts at the expense of the traffic light, allowing a better flow of traffic. In addition, in the town centre, two car parks can accommodate vehicles, although the number of parking spaces remains low in the town centre for shopping.

For travellers preferring public transport, two main bus routes and sixteen additional routes serve the metropolitan area. Two routes are also available to access the side of Mont Revard and the Chapel of the Mont du Chat. ''Ondea'' (trade name of the network operated by the company Keolis) was tasked by the to manage transit services. It employs 55 people. During the summer, the town is served for short trips by a small train travelling on the roads. It runs between the esplanade of the lake, the beach and town centre.

Urbanism

Urban morphology

The life of Aix-les-Bains is located largely on its heights where its downtown, the economic heart, and its thermal baths (the National Baths of Chevalley and the Baths of Marlioz) are located. Indeed, the history of the town has made it a spa town. Aix was organized around this activity, which was initiated by the Romans. The lower part of the town, located on the shores of the lake, was abandoned because of the risk of flooding. The land was cultivated and there were fish farms. The economic activity is mainly on the upper part, and the urban morphology has adapted. It had to take into account living space for services ( racecourse, casino, thermal baths, deluxe hotels, station, hospital and golf, for instance) and the surrounding geography.

Aix-les-Bains includes grand boulevards which are the Robert Barrier Boulevard, Boulevard Lepic, Russia Boulevard/President Wilson Boulevard, the Boulevard of Dr. Jean Charcot/Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boulevard. These boulevards are wide and open unlike the streets of downtown, which are narrower, and the other axes, which can be more constrained because of the proximity of the Massif des Bauges and its winding climbs, meeting the more anarchic requirements of the moment without taking the urban fabric into overall account. The town includes various neighborhoods such as Chantemerle, Boncelin, around the railway station, the Sierroz, la liberté, the lakeside, Marlioz, Lepic, Franklin Roosevelt and many others.

With urban expansion and population growth Aix-les-Bains constantly extends, similarly to the neighbouring communes. Little by little, one speaks beyond a city of Aix-les-Bains as such, but the Aix area encompassing an urban plan, with the nearby communes such as Tresserve, Mouxy, Méry