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Val d'Isère has re-invented itself in recent years with numerous new buildings in attractive wood and stone.

 

© copyright Val d'Isere

Hard winters forced villagers to build solid houses with the local stone, setting the style for centuries to come. A Parisian, Jacques Mouflier, discovered Val d’Isère under mounds of snow in 1929. And the snow, “as light and fluffy as swan’s down” convinced him that this mountain valley was just the spot to create a resort in the image of an Austrian ski village. But with the inauguration in 1937 of the Iseran Road - the highest mountain pass in the European Alps - linking the Tarentaise and Maurienne Valleys, the soul of the village was “smothered for a time by city-influenced architectural concepts” until the busy little mountain town embarked on an extensive facelift during the years leading up to the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. Until then it had become something of an eye-sore except for one redeeming factor: its attractive old centre.
Val d’Isère was once a small hunting village owned by the Dukes of Savoie, and the old quarter, complete with ancient church, dates back to 1553. It was one of the few churches that wasn't destroyed during the French revolution; when the French revolutionaries tried to dismantle it, they were peppered with buck-shot. In 1987 the reconstruction of the town centre began, in true Savoyard style, using wood, stones from the Manchet valley, and flat mountain slate for the roofs.

In 1998 Val d’Isère’s main street, Avenue Olympique was renovated, with the introduction of lot more greenery. The ski resort now strives to give pedestrians as much right of way – if not more - than motorised traffic. The avenue still serves as a through road, but parking is only possible in one of the numerous underground car parks. Pedestrians can thus stroll around the centre in a fairly carefree way. The village had virtually re-invented itself, with numerous new buildings constructed quite attractively in wood and stone. Val d’Isère’s architectural renovation project specified strict conditions which are still respected. Any new construction has to make use of wood and “Lauzes” (wide flat stones) in keeping with the area and its history.

Val d'Isère’s satellite villages vary from the charming traditional ambiance of Le Fornet to the slightly brutal modern and higher rise of La Daille. Not to everyone’s taste, La Daille’s structures however cleverly reflect the craggy grey peaks above and are architecturally interesting.

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