RH Voyages: Val d’Isere Recap
Us going up the mountain with our ski instructor, Thierry
Whenever the leaves start to change, and I see the pumpkins brought out to the front door steps, I am immediately reminded of our on mountain adventures. Although our winter this year will look different than most, I’m reminiscing about a wonderful ski trip my husband and I took last season. Situated on the French Alps along the Italian border is a not so quaint ski community called Val d’Isere. Although this off the radar town is relatively unknown in the States, it is an annual winter retreat to some of Europe’s chicest creative families.
The biggest inconvenience about Val d’Isere is getting to and from it from New York. Our inbound travel consisted of 2 flights and a chopper ride. The final leg, in our private helicopter was absolutely insane. The surrounding views were out of a National Geographic magazine. It really felt like we were completely alone in the skies as we grazed dangerously close to the legendary Mont Blanc mountain. Once we safely landed on plush snowy ground, we moved into the newly opened Mademoiselle Hotel.
The ski on Val d’Isere is unparalleled because of the sheer vastness of the mountains. There are so many long runs, however I felt that more people were going off-piste than actually down the groomed trails. Novice skiers (like myself), should not be worried as there are infinite easy slopes to practice our pizza formation stops. Thankfully for me, and to my husbands relief, we were paired with one of Val’s most patient instructors. Theirry, pictured in our opening image, was a wonderful teacher and now a dear friend.
My actual ski may not be great, however when it comes to the sport of apres-ski, I am a professional and Val d’Isere definitely knows how to cater to our crowd. Our morning ski runs were broken up by boozy on mountain lunches with great wines and big fur blankets. We sat outside with our faces toward the sun, soaking in the crisp mountain air, devouring bowls of bolognese (surprisingly, delicious!). The highlight of our trip however was La Folie Douce which in english means “sweet maddness”, a translation that fits this place perfectly.
La Folie Douce, is a LIV meets James Bond meets Bowery Hotel type restaurant. Outside, there is a club where house music blasts from top of the line speakers, and men and women dance in themed costumes in cabaret style. Inside, is a gorgeous wine bar with decadent food and enclosed views of the mountains overlooking the town below. Inside, it feels almost like a chic evil lair, a Tom Ford-esque vibe that my husband fit into perfectly. As a surprising treat, our friends arranged for us to have a private chalet lunch overlooking the dancing club kids whose aged ranged from a dynamic 16 to 55. The final thing I’ll mention about this spot is the tap water… crisp, fresh, and absolutely clean. Nothing beats the alps when you’re sipping on that H20.
Our final nights in Val were spent counting down the New Year with our friends and their kids, and shopping at the local boutiques in the area. As we were getting ready to leave, we were warned of low visibility on the mountain which would result in a tumble effect of delayed helicopter travel and rescheduled flights. It was a blessing in disguise however, because we were able to spend one more day together in Val d’Isere, our cold, beautiful paradise.
