Reconnecting with an old friend…

Fifty-two years ago I began teaching skiing at the Avoriaz ski school. Not only was I thrilled to work there, but I met a bunch of different and outstanding co-workers. 

Some I knew a little bit, most I didn’t. Among those was a guy by the name of Pierre Meugnier. If I remember correctly, he came from Paris by the way of Leysin, Switzerland where he was a ski instructor at Club Med. I guess that’s where he met, Lisette, his wife to be. 

He was also a mountain guide and was always singing “Mellow Yellow”, Donavan’s hit song at the time. To complete the picture, so to speak, he had lost an eye and wore a glass one instead. 

A few days ago, my friend Anselme told me that Pierre was paralyzed from the waist down, the result of several bouts with cancer. He had also told me that once, I stood for him when he was harassed by a red-neck ski instructor from Morzine (episode I can’t remember). 

So, yesterday I called Pierre who currently moved from his Swiss home at Châtellard, in Switzerland, to a more convenient place in Vallorcine, near Chamonix. We chatted for have been 10 minutes and we both feel great again. 

Yes, as it felt more than half a century ago!