AUBERGE DE L’ERIDAN (MARC VEYRAT)

13 Vieille route des Pensieres; tel.: 04 50 60 2400; fax: 04 50 60 2363 One of the very finest restaurants in France is to be found in an attractive small hotel on the eastern shores ol Lake Annecy. To eat and stay there is something I recommend very highly. As you enter the large terrace restaurant you can see the water lapping the shore just below. When my wife and I stayed there we were able to swim in the lake before dinner. Above the restaurant are 11 comfortable bedrooms overlooking the water. The breakfast is a sensation in itself with a variety of hot and cold dishes served on several trolleys. The star attraction is Marc Veyrat himself; a young chef always wearing his Savoyard mountain hat. This is not just a fad. Marc regularly goes up in to the mountains and collects alpine herbs to embellish and flavour his dishes. I have rarely eaten better as dish after dish was presented, starting with at least 10 different varieties of amuse bouche served on a piece of tree bark. Among Veyrat's specialities are sea urchin mousse with its juice and grilled red mullet with olive oil  Why not try the remarkable cheese trolley with an enormous choice. During the winter Marc Veyrat also runs an excellent restaurant in Megeve called Ferme de mon Pere.