Le Pâquier, Promenade in central Annecy, France.

Le Pâquier is a broad, flat lawn of 7.5 hectares on the shore of Lake Annecy, with low leafy trees along one side and a fringe of small trees and low buildings where the grass meets the water. A slightly raised curb or paved edge borders the lawn, where groups of people sit and lie on the grass.

The land served as pastureland for cattle in medieval times before the city of Annecy gradually acquired it starting in the 17th century. This transformation turned it into public space for the expanding city.

The name comes from the Savoyard Arpitan word for pasture, and the site was long grazing land. A legend, recorded by Canon Claude-Antoine Ducis in 1892, tells of a gift by a Dame Mossière for the children of Annecy, though no archive confirms it. In 1613 Count Bernard VI de Menthon donated a large meadow called Pâquier to the city's archers' company.

Access is free and available year-round, with wheelchair-accessible paths and several entry points from Bonlieu center or Pont des Amours. For longer visits, there are plenty of seating areas along the lake, and it is best to visit at different times depending on the season.

The tale of Dame Mossière's gift rests on a 1387 document naming the Mossière family's Pâquier, and on city council records of Ayma, widow of Guillaume Mossière, between 1475 and 1488. No archive holds any record of a donation by the family. Canon Claude-Antoine Ducis gave the story currency in 1892 in La Revue savoisienne.