With a wealth of adventures to her name, from Iran to India to Asia, at the age of 45 a woman by the name of Ella Maillart has, perhaps against all odds, made her home here in the village of Chandolin. Her chalet ‘Atchala’, located at Déjo Vella 3961 Chandolin, became her home from May to October, like a freeze-frame she sought to create from time to time between two escapades abroad. After years of upheaval, she needed to find a place, a chalet, a house.

A woman of history, she is a reflection of Switzerland: as open to the world as she is cradled by her roots. The Espace Ella Maillart - her former home in Chandolin - invites you to discover this exceptional Swiss woman who spanned the 20th century (1903-1997) as a journalist, writer, photographer, alpine sportswoman, traveller, explorer... and an octogenarian skier who spent her last years on the slopes of Saint-Luc and Chandolin.

The story of her work can also be discovered through her photographs, exhibited at the Musée de l'Elysée, and her films at the Cinémathèque suisse in Lausanne.