LA VALHEUREUSA WELLNESS OASIS:
The Valheureusa, or 'joyous valley' in patois, actually existed in Cogne over
1500 years ago. It was found in the high valley of Valnontey, today located just before the
Erfolet Bridge and was distinguished in time as a place where its citizens in dedication to
work and to prayer, lived their days in peace and harmony. In the place where La
Valheureusa once laid today is found a large water spring known as the 'Spring of
Scared Ganges'. Paola and Piero Poullet desired to bring the joyous valley to life by
creating within their warm Hotel shelter La Valheureusa Wellness oasis, an exclusive
mind & body ambience designed to enthrall guests in complete physical and mental well-being
and relaxation.
The saunas:
The stream, symbolising the purification of the individual, dips among jetting water cascades
towards an artificial alpine lake for a rejuvenating bath and body water Massage. >From the
area of the Water Stream along the ample Swimming Pool and Relaxation Chamber where the broad
Solarium windows overlook the peaceful splendour of the Sant' Orso Valley and the
breathtaking Gran Paradiso mountain, guests continue their purifying by abandoning themselves
in the dedicated Wellness area.
There are four and, common to all as guests pause between one Sauna and the next, is the
Relaxation Chamber overlooking the alpine lake and furnished with long chairs in natural
rattan. An ideal ambience for sipping tasty tisanes teas - every day a different flavour is
served from the traditional 'samovar' - under a starlit sky created by fibre optic
technology, which casts variable room luminosity to ensure complete eye relaxation.
The Calidarium or vapour bath is characterised by a warm-humid ambience, which helps
in breathing and eliminating toxins, thereby purifying the body. The Laconicum οr Roman
sudarium, where multi-coloured marble art decorates walls depicting great trees and the
smoothly rounded Sauna rest, is a dry ambience which purifies and detoxifies the skin. The
Organic Sauna, where the brazier made of local Cogne stone burns camomille flowers and time
fleeting is placed in the trustworthy hands of the sandglass.
The Finnish Sauna, with its 85° - 90° C range, reaches the highest temperatures among all the
Saunas.
Amidst the Saunas, Turkish Rasul Treatments, in the bear's cave. Between truth and
legend it is said that a long time ago, prior to the Christian period, the Cogne Valley -
today's Europe's largest protected valley range - was a thick forest inhabited by bears
and serpents its residents were pagans who loved to dance, sing and be merry. This euphoric
state is said to have come to an end when, in the period following, Saint Orso sought to
liberate the forests of bears and snakes and convert the congeners to Christianity.
Piero and Paola Roullet love the idea that a family of bears once had its den right within
the hotel at the Bear's Cave, which during the hibernation season is known to produce a
pleasingly warm ambience. The same warmth which today creates the ideal condition for Rasul
Treatments in the cave.
According to Eastern traditions, Rasul is an ancient Wellness bath ceremony which uses mud
clays from the Dead Sea. Evenly spread over the whole body, two different mud pastes are used:
one for facial areas and the other for the body. A dry heat allowing the mud to dry out on the
skin, is initially emanated throughout the Bear's Cave. In a second phase the microclimate
slowly transforms and becomes humid as the mud on the body softens. At this point a
surprisingly unexpected light shower of essential oils mists throughout the cave and onto the
guests, removing the mud from the body and creating a special peeling effect on the now
pleasantly perfumed skin.
Recommendations: To accentuate the detoxifying and revitalising effect of the Rasul Treatment,
a twenty minute relaxation period drinking tisana teas and receiving a pleasurable massage is
recommended. Recommended for persons suffering from excessive tiredness, neuralgia, anxiety,
apathy, obesity. Treatment period 25 minutes.
The Chalets:
Authentic antique Chalet Rooms originating between the 17th and 18th century have been
reproduced within the Bellevue's Oasis, to recreate the suggestive ambience of a
mountain homestead and to offer a dream, of coddling, of pleasure, with Hay Baths, the King
Victor Bath, the Cleopatra Bath along with dedicated aesthetic and body Massage Treatments.
Hay Baths:
It is known that ancient farmers used to rest at night on beds of hay, to awaken the next
morning well reposed and regenerated in both mind and body. Without being aware, they had
actually discovered a natural therapeutic treatment. The 'heat' found in hay occurs due
to a natural fermentation process activated by schizo mycetes, which find their ideal habitat
in all types of hay species, in particular those grown in high mountain ranges rich with
homeopathic leaves, flowers and herbs. The natural fermentation process occurs in all hay
types, especially if harvested while still humid, which in the olden days also rendered the
phenomenon of the self-combustion of haylofts not such a rare occurrence.
La Valheureusa' Wellness Oasis exclusively utilises Gimillan hay - the so-called
"belvedere" above Cogne - composed of a wide variety of homeopathic herbs such as
alchemilla, achillea known as yarrow, artemisia, gramigna also known couch-grass, straw,
arnica, wheat darnel and valerian, thus particularly adapted for curative baths.
Bellevue guests languish in the Hay Bath in an authentically reconstructed fir wood
hayloft, where are laid two single beds covered with hay, naturally, a raw linen sheet and a
woolen blanket. The antique fermentation process is recreated by warming the Gimillan hay with
vapour emanating from the base of the bed.
Recommendations: Treatment period 30 minutes. Recommended for persons suffering from
arthritis, joint rheumatism, sciatic nerve disorder, muscular pain and contractions, neuralgia,
post traumatic stress and pain, obesity. After the Hay Bath a healthy rest and a pleasurable
Massage is recommended.
The King Victor Room:
Historical documents reveal that King Victor Emanuel II, around 1850, chose Cogne as his
travel haven as it offered the double pleasure of a challenging game hunt in the Gran Paradise
National Park as well as moments of pure restful abandon.
Originating from an antique property in Saint Rhemy - on the Italian side of the Great Saint
Bernard pass - it is not certain whether the room containing authentic furnishings perfectly
recreated within La Valheureusa Wellness Oasis, are actually those used by King Victor
Emanuel II, but all leads to imagine so. On the ceiling trave decor, dated 1717, are engraved
symbols of great testimony: the rooster, typical gallic ritual symbology, the Christian cross,
the rampant lion, later to become the emblem of the Aosta Valley Region of Italy, the shields
and cross of the reigning family and the knot of the Savoias, symbol of the loyalty of the
Aosta Valley population towards the Royal House of Savoia. It is probable that this room also
hosted guests on their travels towards Switzerland, France, Germany, England and of course
Italy. The room is furnished with a period dresser, a plain wooden epoch bed with straw
mattress itself covered in raw linen, plus other philological style furnishings. A modern, yet
necessary touch, is the solid bronze pied point Jacuzzi for two, located at the corner of the
room just beneath a cozy window.
Wine therapy and the King Victor Bath: The large bronze bathtub is filled with water
originating from the river springs of the Gran Paradiso and aromatised with local mountain wine
cooked in a brew of herbs, aromatic spices and honey. For guests' opulent pleasure two
champagne cups are placed alongside the bath rim. The beneficial effects are a reinvigorated
circulation and body rejuvenation.
The Wine Therapy practiced at La Valheureusa Wellness Oasis exalts mountain wines, in
that they have been produced for at least two thousand years in a sun filled and airy
microclimate, nature's way of protecting the vines from aggressive bacteria and from the
need to use chemical treatments. Wines ever so fragrant, fresh and fruity maturing in
environments filled with ultraviolet rays, which favour the multiplication of resveratrol
molecules, a potent coadjutant which also assists in heart disease therapies. These
characteristics are truly exalted in Aosta wines, especially those obtained from antique vines
and produced using traditional winemaking methods.
Cleopatra's Bath: The alternative treatment to wine therapy, much appraised by
women for its immediate fruitful effects on the skin. The water decoction is prepared in a
cooked brew of mountain milk and honey.
IDEAS FOR GUEST PLEASURES:
One of the Hotel Bellevue's greatest strengths is the desire to coddle guests
in every way. Among the hotel's initiatives are: tea with home-made pastries served from an
antique silver samovar and enjoyed in front of the warm living Room hearth, daily between 16:30
and 17:30, wine tasting in the 'cantina', or wine cellar to please the palates of
aspiring sommeliers, a new film every night in the Cinema Room, outings in and about the
mountain valleys in the 1920's limousines, free wintertime cooking classes hosted by our
Chef every Tuesday and Friday, with food tasting feasts at the end of each session, nighttime
summer hikes guided by the light of antique lanterns, with break times to drink warm vin brule,
or cooked wine and to taste the Chefs home-made sweets.