My mountain roots

I spent about a quarter of a century in that little mountain village and most precisely in the chalet pictured at the center of the photo. I lived there from the time I was a six month baby to the summer of 1974 when I still was there, before I left my mountains for good and set out to explore the world.

This little mountain paradise looks beautiful and magical today, but for many, many years, it had no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no basic comfort, it was always muddy with no paved access road, wasn't accessible in winter, and worst of all, I had no one to play with.

Living there during these hardscrabble years was probably what make me want to leave that little Alpine spot and explore the world at large. I needed to see more alternative, build some references, develop some preferences and then pick and chose.

With a mixture of intense pain, tears and joy, I eventually made these discoveries, drew these comparisons, made some wrenching choices and finally settled to my own place of comfort...