What they say: Bernard, resident of Val d'Isère

September 2, 2024

In the old days, there was no nursery school - we did our own schooling out in the fields! We started school when we were older, around age 7. The class was held in a disused grocery store, formerly Mr. Bonnevie's: there were holes in the floor, and during storms the snow would get into the classroom... The school changed location several times.

There was no such thing as a canteen: we came home for lunch every day. For the children of the village, it didn't matter if it rained, snowed or stormed, we went to school. It was normal for us, we were "made" for it! Except when the floods hit in '57, and the village was devastated: even then, we didn't have school for a long time! As for the kids in the hamlets, they missed class when the weather was too bad. At one time, there was a red train, a small van driven by villagers, which collected them from La Daille and Le Fornet. School was more difficult, because in everyday life, they spoke patois, whereas at school, we had to speak French. We learned from each other, and thanks to them I understand Patois!

There wasn't much going on in Val d'Isère yet, the village was very small, so there weren't many of us at school. I remember a teacher, Madame Sabatier, who found it hard to keep up with us. We had passionate teachers, so it must have been difficult for them. When we went to recess, we had to be supervised or we wouldn't come back! We didn't care about school. We were interested in certain things, but we started school so late that we found it hard to stay. We were attached to the notion of freedom, so we played a lot of truant.

All that hasn't stopped us from being very well educated. We all knew how to read and write, and without any mistakes! The standard was quite high. By the time we reached the "certificat d'étude", we had a good general knowledge of history, geography and civics... School taught us to be more patriotic (we went to the flag, sang the Marseillaise...) and religious instruction wasn't always well separated. As we were right next to the church, the parish priest would pick us up directly from class to go to catechism, for example.

School is still a good memory, and when we went there we had fun, so we were still happy. Growing up in Val was real, no cheating, natural. It forged us: when you're a Val d'Isère kid, you stay a Val d'Isère kid.