Abondance is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Haute-Savoie

Haute-Savoie

Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...

 department in the Rhône-Alpes

Rhône-Alpes

Rhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in south-eastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

It lies in the French Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

 just south of Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...

 on the Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 border. The people of this commune are referred to as Abondanciers.

Abondance has given its name to a variety of cheese

Abondance (cheese)

Abondance is a semi-hard, fragrant, raw-milk cheese made in the Haute-Savoie department of France. Its name comes from a small commune also called Abondance. A round of Abondance weighs approximately 10 kg and its aroma is similar to that of Beaufort, also from France. Abondance is made...

 made in the region, as well as the breed of cattle

Abondance (cattle)

The Abondance is a mixed race breed of cattle which originated in the high valleys of Haute-Savoie, France.-Description:They are medium-sized, with the female weighing in at between 580 and 680 kilograms and standing 1.30 metres tall...

 from whose milk the cheese is made. It is a small and quiet town with a bar, some hotels, a bank and some shops. Its main feature is the Abbey. The commune was founded around the year 1040.

Abondance was the first ski resort in the Alps to shut down due to lack of snow, due to alleged global warming. In the 2006–2007 ski season, the town lost money due to lifts being shutdown. The town's plea for government aid to support the resort was denied due to its unlikeliness to return to profit due to lack of snow. However, the resort reopened in the winter of 2009/10. Abondance is home to the international boarding school Sainte Croix des Neiges.