Chalet des Epylobes – 5 Chemin de la Séa – Les Deux Alpes

“The history of the chalet—it will also be my story, my family’s story, and, to some extent, the story of the resort:

In 1960, I was 18 years old, and my mother signed me up for a week-long winter scout camp. It took place in Les Deux Alpes. There were about fifteen of us, and we stayed in an old barn in the village of Mont de Lans.
Back in Paris, I raved to my family about what a wonderful experience that week had been for me. Just imagine—in six days I’d earned my second star… Pure joy.
The following year I went back, and my little family—by that I mean my mother, brother, and sister—joined me, but we drove there and stayed at a hotel in Bons.
The car was very useful for shuttling back and forth every day from Bons to the resort. My mother didn’t ski, but she never grew tired of sipping tea at the Edelweiss restaurant, watching all those “little ants,” as she called them, climbing up in single file and descending from those mountains.
She was so enchanted that by the end of the week, she floated the idea of buying a plot of land to build a small chalet there. Very excited by this idea, that very evening I found the perfect plot in the next housing development that Mr. Téssa was preparing. I would have preferred the one above, but it was already reserved by the two sisters, Paulette and Babette, who built Les Armaillis there, just before ours.
Back in Paris, the whole family pored over the plans to prepare a building permit application. I went to bed more than once at 3 a.m. On March 15, 1962, the application was filed at city hall, and we received the approved permit on May 16, 1962.
This period had consequences for me that turned my life upside down. Previously set on a career as an engineer, I shifted toward that of an architect. This chalet was the indirect cause of that.
We didn’t have the capacity to oversee the construction site. So we entrusted it to Jacques Flandrin, a general contractor in Grenoble. I stayed in constant contact with him and made numerous visits to the site.
But winter caught us by surprise, and we weren’t able to inaugurate it until the Christmas holidays of 1963.
The old postcard below is undated, but together with the site plan we were given when we purchased the land, it proves that the area was vacant on this plateau between the Alpe de Mont de Lans and the Alpe de Vénosc.

On this old, undated postcard—perhaps from 1967—you can make out the chalet located between the herdsmen’s huts and the Hôtel des Adrets, which was built a few years after ours.

There were so few buildings that our mailing address was simply:
“Chalet Légeron – Alpes de Mont de Lans – Isère”

Two notes about that time: First: It was the time when, to return to Paris, we would take the bus and then the train from the SNCF station in Grenoble. Very early in the morning, with the chalet protected from the frost, our suitcases secured on the balcony, and the doors locked, we would wait patiently in the cool of the night and the twilight of the dawning day for the bus to arrive. We’d see it, headlights on, leaving the Alpe de Vénosc square two kilometers ahead of us, and we could follow it as it wound its way along the narrow road leading to the Alpe de Mont de Lans square. We had just enough time to grab our suitcases and walk down without rushing to arrive at its first stop at the same time as the bus. That moment was magical. That image of the valley in the shadows between Pied-Moutet and the ridges has remained etched in my mind for over 55 years.
By the way, at that time, it’s important to know that there were only three ski lifts: the Vallée Blanche, the Pied-Moutet with its “boules,” and Côte-Brune, plus the Diable gondola. But once the chalet was finished, the resort grew thanks to the presence of many Italians, who were particularly drawn by the efforts of the municipalities of both towns. The ski lifts multiplied: La Belle Étoile, Champamé, Les Crêtes, then Le Fioc, and so on… I remember that special atmosphere and the shuttle made up of old Parisian buses equipped with open platforms in the back; they crisscrossed the road between Les Deux Alpes for free. To go skiing, we simply had to put on our skis at the foot of the chalet and let ourselves glide down to the resort center, the ski school, or the departure point of the La Belle Étoile ski lift to head out across the entire eastern flank of the resort.
It was a wonderful time for us. The whole family enjoyed it—my younger siblings, whom I mentioned at the beginning of my memoirs, but also our two older sisters and their children.
I forgot to mention that this chalet had a 4-bed room, a 5-bed dormitory, and a living room with a sofa bed. That’s a total of 11 beds, but only one bathroom, and heating was provided by one, then two oil-fired stoves. Everyone pitched in. One person would decorate, another would build a cupboard, and quite often we’d stain the balcony or the shutters.
Needless to say, it was very spartan, but let’s just say it had a very family-oriented atmosphere. Proof of this is the
number of classmates, then friends, and even business partners who spent several vacations there. For 30 years, that was its purpose: family summer vacations, with hikes, family, and friends. And in winter, skiing—skiing to the max. But that wasn’t all… For some, there were also the nightclubs, and that’s how my brother met the love of his life… at “L’Etable”… a predestined place, one might say, for someone who has since become a farmer.
I even drew a little sketch for those who had never been there and were planning to stay there without us.

But times are changing, and everything is about to change. The town halls have moved out of the two villages and consolidated in the center of the resort. Many new streets have been developed and named. Our address has quickly become:
Chalet Légeron – 5 Chemin de la Séa – Les Deux Alpes

The former mayor, Mr. Faure, who knew me well, called out to me, “Ah! . . . the Légeron son,” and he
informed me that the zoning regulations have changed and that if we build a gable roof, the floor area ratio
increases. That’s interesting.
Another change: This chalet was bequeathed to me as part of our inheritance in full ownership. Since becoming an architect, its aesthetics no longer satisfy me at all. Furthermore, the level of comfort deemed sufficient at the time of its construction is no longer adequate. Everything must therefore be renovated, and I set to work.
A new building permit was filed with the town hall on December 2, 1993. It was approved on February 16, 1994. It is no longer the same; it now comprises two separate apartments and accommodates a total of about twenty people. I converted the garage into two bedrooms and installed six bathrooms or washbasins. But I live in La Rochelle; due to my job and the distance, I can no longer manage it myself. I entrusted its management to the agency “Deux Alpes Locations” with the mandate to rent it out by the week. It became the Chalet des Epilobes – 5 Chemin de la Séa.

This commercial lease took effect during the Christmas holidays of 1994. We had clearly specified that we
reserved the first floor for our personal use during Christmas week and for two weeks in the summer.
After nine years—that is, in 2003—since everything had gone very well, we renewed the contract. And then
disaster struck: the manager, Mr. Charton, went bankrupt along the way—lost payments, bankruptcy proceedings
lease termination, lawyers, and lawsuits.
Change in rental type. After restoring it—a few repairs, plus the floors and some painting—I decided to rent it out on an annual basis. That’s what happened during the summer of 2009.
Neither I nor my family could go there anymore. It was the beginning of an emotional break. Three tenant changes until 2018. And then new problems… the tenant in the ground floor apartment moved out, and the tenant on the first floor was ordered by the court to pay me the rent arrears.
My spirits are at an all-time low. I haven’t told you about the continued growth of Les Deux Alpes, nor about my family life, which has gone through some very difficult times.
I decided to come in October 2017 to work with the bailiff to evict this delinquent tenant.
The process went smoothly; I retrieved the keys and arranged to rent out my properties through
via the housing service of the community of communes, at least for the upcoming winter season, i.e., 2017–2018. Faced with all these mounting problems, my resolve to put this chalet up for sale grew stronger.

I mentioned it to an agency, which told me the next day that they had a client interested. That same day, I had to go back to La Rochelle. Before leaving, I went back to the restaurant where I’d eaten the day before and mentioned the possibility of selling. SURPRISE… he was the interested client. I’m very happy about this; this surprise eases my sorrow, because I can see what he plans to do with it.
What will become of the regrets of all the families who lived there!? But the wheel turns.”

Jacques Légeron on June 6, 2018