I am currently reading a book entitled "tête en l'air" (Head In The Air) by a French writer from Paris, Richard Gaitet.

Richard Gaitet went to see the Guérin publishing house for a book project and came back with a completely different proposal.

The Guérin publishing house is based at the foot of Mont Blanc. It publishes mainly stories of mountaineers, trailers, and other adventurers.

The owner of the Guérin publishing house looks like M, the James Bond boss. She proposed to this non-sporty, pot-bellied writer, totally new to mountains and mountaineering, to climb Mont Blanc with a guide and tell his adventure. Mont Blanc is the summit of Europe. It culminates at more than 4800m of altitude.

"Tête en l'air" is a play on words in French. It means both to be a dizzy one, but it also means that the head looks towards Mont Blanc.

The guide, René Ghilini, is a colorful character, a sexagenarian, an experienced mountaineer, and an anti-conformist, to sum up, a cowboy.

He gives Richard a training program in Paris for 4 months and then in Chamonix itself for another two months, during which he learns the rudiments of mountaineering. According to his guide, Richard Gaitet is such a sub-gifted mountaineer so the book is plenty of humourous anecdotes.

Tête en l'air - Richard Gaitet, Guérin Editions.