Val d’Isère is a valley of delights

Matthew Partridge reviews Airelles Val d’Isere and Hotel Mont-Blanc in the famous French ski resort

Airelles Val d'Isère exterior
(Image credit: Airelles)

As my cable-car gondola ascended into the fog, leaving me with just the occasional glow of a distant light, I wondered what would happen. Would I disappear, never to be seen again, or would I arrive at the station only to be greeted by Oddjob? 

Let’s take a deep breath and start at the beginning. Airelles Val d’Isere is one of the most famous resorts in the French Alps. Unlike most other skiing areas, it wasn’t created from scratch a few decades ago. Instead, it was first inhabited in Roman times. Even today, its oldest building dates from the 12th century, while the local church, dedicated to Saint Bernard of the Alps, was built in 1664.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri