The Pâquier is a long flat lawn between the lake and the Avenue d'Albigny, big enough that on a sunny weekend most of Annecy seems to be on it: families picnicking, students sunbathing, kids on rollerblades, paragliders folding their canopies after landing on the grass.
It is also the stage for the first weekend of August, when the Fête du Lac brings 100,000 people to watch one of the largest pyrotechnic-and-music shows in Europe — set off from barges on the lake itself. Outside that one weekend, it is simply the best free place in town for an evening with cheese, bread and a bottle of Apremont.