Oxygéne des Alpes
Ronald and I had been associated with Leysin, the small Swiss mountain village in the Pre-Alpes, since 1988 when we took over the first floor apartment in a rustic chalet which Beth and her husband had rented.
Both Beth and I had been on separate ILO ‘missions’ and we met up for a workshop in Arusha, Tanzania which brought together women leaders from agricultural worker organisations in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. While we were there, our husbands got together and concocted a plan which, when we got back, Ronald said he was sure I’d approve of.
Roger and Beth were moving as they’d purchased an apartment Leysin. Beth had to agree as her daughter Marie was also in on the plan. Their apartment in Villa Rosa was available at a very reasonable rental. Ronald negotiated the necessary with the elderly owner, Monsieur Weibel, who at 80 kept an abundant vegetable garden and rabbits at the back, presenting one in a delicious stew on special occasions. I was not yet a vegetarian, but their live siblings were snuffling around in their hatches at my backdoor and I preferred the gifts of freshly pulled salads and vegetables we found on our doorstep arriving on a Friday night, having driven the one and a half hours from Nyon for the weekend.
These weekends in Leysin during the late 1980s proved to be a tonic; a real respite after my compelling work for the ILO. I was developing a programme for women workers in the Tanzanian plantations (sugar, tea and sisal), and I felt very intense about the issues. In Leysin, however, we could breathe. The air was pure and the walks beckoning. We took advantage of the mountains, and in winter Ronald would go skiing on a couple of the black pistes – more advanced ski routes for very experienced skiers, which he was. I went on long cross-country ‘walks’ with my poles and snowshoes through the silent forests. Silent except for the occasional thud of snow as it fell from the branches in a cloud of glistening snow crystals, sometimes brushing my face and sticking to my eyelashes.
We enjoyed a full decade in the Villa Rosa, but then M. Weibel died and there was some uncertainty as to what his heirs would do. And we’d also found our apartment in Thonon-les-Bains overlooking Lac Leman.
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When Ronald died, however, I knew I needed to reconnect more firmly with Leysin. The mountains were calling me. I needed to breathe that air and absorb the silence as well as the birdsong and cowbells.
There was a south-facing building at the very top of the village, which had always fascinated me when I walked that particular route. Thick forests lay behind it and generous views over the Rhone valley with layers of mountain ranges peeling away towards the Dents du Midi in the Alps.
This building, Le Vagabond, had a rich history and was known as Club Vagabond in the 60s when in the style of an early backpackers lodge, it was frequented by large numbers of young Americans and Australians traveling across Europe. Many would stay for long periods of time, writing poetry, playing music, telling stories. Playing and partying at the well-loved ‘Vag’.
When I began my search for the appropriate base, the ‘Vag” was being renovated into nine apartments. I knew I would need to be in the loft. This transpired and no 9, Le Vagabond became my new address, maison secondaire in Switzerland, as I was still officially domiciled in France.
The loft apartment had sloping ceilings and wooden beams with exposed stone walls in some spaces giving it a rustic and cozy feel. There was one bedroom which had doors opening onto the covered balcony, which the kitchen / dining area also led onto. There was a huge bathroom, which in Club Vagabond days had slept four travelers in two double bunks, I was told. A long rectangular space contained the kitchen area, and this large space opened onto a beautiful luminous area with huge glass windows and sliding doors leading to the open terrace. From the terrace one took in the generous view of the Dents du Midi in the distance and the village of Leysin spreading out below.
The two ‘rooms’ flowed into each other creating a sense of spaciousness and the larger volume easily held the Bechstein 1956 ‘baby grand’. The piano was much younger than my beloved 1923 Bechstein in Thonon-les-Bains and was quite feminine in feel. She was of a honey-coloured wood and pretty. She had very unusual legs, bulging out like thighs at the top and tapering down to little pointed toes as if she was standing on tippy toes like a deer.
Serge, the owner of the building, was keen that I moved in and went some way to ensuring the sale. He laid a second layer of solid wood flooring across the entire apartment, which totally insulated the apartment from any sounds coming up from other parties, and the sound from my piano was effectively muted.
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After my reflective creative time in Kalk Bay, this was the Leysin I returned to. It became another retreat, a place to nourish my soul. And in addition, the Amani Harmonic Foundation was beginning to take shape and Leysin was to be its ‘headquarters’. It was time to get music and creativity back into Le Vagabond.