Francois Charles Cachoud (1866-1943) was a student at the Ecole de Peinture, Chambéry, before moving to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1889. There he trained under Elie Delaunay and Gustave Moreau, whose work, together with that of the Barbizon School, was a sustaining inspiration throughout his career. He began exhibiting at the Salon in Paris in 1892, and was regularly represented until 1940. He was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1937, and the Légion d'Honneur in 1910. His Savoyard origins were officially recognised in 1900, when he was commissioned by the Compagnie des chemins de fer Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee to paint a decorative panel, The Lake of Annecy, for the restaurant of the Gare du Lyon.

A view across the lake to a mountain range beyond; in the foreground, fields bordered by trees slope down to the shore of the lake, where there is a small hamlet on the right; on the extreme right a milkmaid with two cows under some trees. Queen Victoria stayed at the Maison Mottet in Aix on three occasions, from 1st to 22nd April 1885, from 6th to 28th April 1887, and from 26th March to 22nd April 1890. There are six watercolours, by Gabriele Carelli and his son Conrad, recording Aix and the surrounding areas also purchased by Queen Victoria whilst holidaying in the town (Delia Millar, nos. 781-3, 810-12).