La Maison de Franco

Deep in the Aosta Valley, where the Alps draw a natural border between Italy, France, and Switzerland, the village of Valpelline lives to the rhythm of a world apart. Here, the Valdostan patois is still spoken, Valdostana cattle come down from the high pastures in autumn, and cellars hold fontinas aged according to recipes passed down from generation to generation. It is in this unspoiled setting, just minutes from Aosta, that Franco opened the doors of his home.

La Maison de Franco is no ordinary hotel — it is a human-scale retreat, where the owner welcomes you himself and where every room, spacious and carefully maintained, offers the private bathroom that makes all the difference after a day of hiking or skiing. In the morning, breakfast is included: a well-stocked table to start the day right, before heading out to explore the surrounding valleys or driving to the slopes of the La Thuile ski area or the Roman sites of Aosta.

In the evening, if you have thought to book ahead, Franco sets on the table an honest, local cuisine — Valdostan soup, creamy polenta, slow-cooked meats — accompanied by a selection of local wines that never fail to surprise those discovering them for the first time. The wine list from the Aosta Valley region is one of the most little-known and most endearing in Italy, and Franco knows it by heart.

The village itself is quiet, almost silent at night, with that clear mountain sky that invites you to look up. The 129 Google reviews for the house — for a score of 4.6 out of 5 — all tell the same story: the feeling of having been truly welcomed, not simply accommodated.

What do travelers take with them when they leave? The smell of wood, the taste of a wine unknown by label but familiar on the palate, and the desire, already, to return.