The road heads towards the mountains that can be seen in the distance and which separate France from Spain. It climbs through the fir trees and snow tires are recommended. Suddenly, around a bend, it’s La Mongie, at an altitude of 1,800 meters. This resort in the Hautes-Pyrénées, whose golden age dates back to the 1960s, is twinned with Barèges, on the other side of the Col du Tourmalet. It is the largest ski area in the French Pyrenees, with 100 kilometers of slopes.
At the foot of the Pic du Midi, a breath of fresh air awaits. “We learned to ski here,” specify Philippe and Nathalie Dours, a couple from Tarbais who bought the former hotel La Crête blanche, on the main avenue. “Over the years, La Mongie had lost its splendor. Many hotels have been closed and converted into apartments. We wanted to bring back some shine to our beloved station. »
Opened a year ago, La Voie lactée now sparkles with its four stars and its music hall sign, with bright lights. And above all its exceptional renovation, the perfect comfort and the delicate taste of its twenty rooms which welcome skiers in winter and hikers in summer. “We only kept the walls and an old elevator,” underlines Nathalie Dours.
“We really needed to transform the aging building. At the same time, I didn’t want to distort it. I hunted for a lot of furniture and objects, in the spirit mid-century, which I love. » In homage to Charlotte Perriand, to whom we owe the development of the Les Arcs ski resort in the Alps, a set of leather chairs with their pentagonal table has joined two bedrooms.
A carpet like a sheep’s fleece
On the third floor, room 34 faces the mountain. From the balcony, you overlook the slopes and their ski lifts which attack the massif. The impression of a mountain cocoon is reinforced by the thick wool carpet, like the fleece of a Pyrenean sheep. Wood is very present, partly paneling the walls and the ceiling. On the bed is a blanket woven in the next valley by Maison Lafond.
Nathalie Dours chose the patterns herself, as did many of the details of the piece. The curve of a wall, the solid wood desk, the looped curtains, the ceramic pendant lights, the pyrite sandstone vase, the bouquet of thistles and cotton flowers… Evoking marble, the vanity in the room bathroom is made by the Rezak workshop from plastic waste from the Basque-Landes coast. As for sleeping, the soft headboard has a strange shape reminiscent of the mountains. A cable car decorates the pillow. And the night passes peacefully, under a Pyrenex duvet.
You have 45% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.