This time the Interview breaks new ground in going International. The Club boasts a sprinkling of foreign nationals, as you will see by running your eye down the membership list. (For the present purposes, the English are not counted as foreigners). Having met Nicolas on the Carnethy Pyrenean Trip, interviewing the first French Carnethy member was the obvious thing to do. Captive interview subjects are my preference and he even agreed to have an audience for the interview, brave man. I wish there was a way of conveying the sound of the interview in print, it would bring out what I mean by saying that Nicolas must have attended the Maurice Chevalier school of English pronunciation. Despite his wonderful English, there is no doubting he was brought up in La France. He is also a very fit athlete and a more than competent mountaineer. Even with a pulled hamstring muscle, which reduced him to a stiff-legged running technique, he was always up at the head of the peleton in the Pyrenees, except on some of the difficult descents.

How do you come to be in Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular?
After finishing my degree in France, I wanted to do research over here. My subject is Meteorology. Well, there is a lot of weather in England and Scotland, isn’t there? I have been in the UK for more than three years now and in Edinburgh for two and a half years. I like Edinburgh very much. (A voice from somewhere called “And he has a girl friend there, too”). Yes, my English girl-friend, who comes from Devon, also lives and works in Edinburgh.

And before Edinburgh?
I was brought up in Clermont-Ferrand and I have one brother. My first degree was taken at Clermont-Ferrand University, then I went on to do a year in Grenoble and a year in Toulouse. On moving to England, I spent the first 8 months at Oxford. This didn’t work out as I expected, so, when an offer to go to Edinburgh came along it was more in the direction of what I wanted to do, so I accepted. It has turned out to be the right choice, both from the academic point of view and for social reasons, too. Being in Carnethy has led to meeting a lot of people who think as I do.

Have you always been a sporty type?
Well, at school I did lots of sports and was involved in the regional school cross country championships. Then at Toulouse there was the opportunity for lots of summer and winter climbing in the Pyrenees. So when you came to Scotland you went into the mountains straight away? Yes. I did lots of walking in the Ben Nevis area, Torridon and plenty of other good places. I kept up the running, mainly road and cross country, to keep fit for walking in the mountains.

Are you a Munro bagger?
No, the Munros are not important to me.

You didn’t do any hill running in France?
No, it is not a tradition to run the hills in France. Access to the National Park in the Pyrenees is guaranteed, but elsewhere the fishing and hunting interests buy up large tracts of country and keep people out. Very much like it is in this country. But you discovered hill-running here in Scotland? I met Alex McGuire, from Fife, and Willie Gibson, who introduced me to running on Arthur’s Seat. That area is now a great favourite with me. That’s how I started hill running. I started hill racing about a year ago. What was your first hill race? Er, let me think (Nicolas plucked his black beard, in what I came to recognise as a very characteristic way, while deep in thought). Yes, my first race was Dollar.

How did you come to join Carnethy?
Willie Gibson suggested joining. He thought I might like the people and the events Carnethy organise and he was right. My enjoyment of hill running is greatly enhanced by being a member of Carnethy.

And you thought up and planned the Pyrenees trip jointly with Willie?
Well, it was Win Rampen who sparked off the idea with his article in the Newsletter after being in the Pyrenees, suggesting we name some of the tops after Carnethy members and calling them “The Carnethies”. Since I knew the Central area so well, I was able to suggest a reasonable route, with overnight stops at the Gites d’Etape. These are very comfortable mountain huts, run by local people, and very cheap. There is a very extensive network in this part of France. They are used by skiers in the winter.

We thought Willie had engaged you as a walking dictionary to keep down the weight in his rucksack.

By the way, I thought all Frenchmen were called Guillaume or Jean or Louis or something like that. Nicolas is a more English name. Were you born on Christmas Day or something?
No, Nicolas is very common in France. And does Fournier translate as “Baker”? Well, not quite. More like a man who goes around making ovens. So I can’t call you “Nick Baker”? Well, if you wish. The name Fournier is very widespread in the South of France and into Switzerland.

You have impressed us all with your fitness this week.
No, I do not consider myself as very fit. I only train 3 or 4 times a week, doing maybe 20 miles a week. There were cries of derision and disbelief from the assembled smelly mob, who had seen how very fit he is. He had done extremely well in the recent Glen Rosa Race, held in foul weather, and in which hard men had nearly perished. Yes, I enjoyed the Glen Rosa, despite the weather.

What is your favourite type of race?
Something like the Glen Rosa. Rough mountainous country, taking 3 or 4 hours.

How about music and dancing? Do you play a musical instrument?
No. My musical talents are not well developed at all. But I do like dancing Salsa.

What do you read?
Mostly factual and technical subjects - the accounts of mountain men, adventure. My favourite author is a Czech, Mihan Kundera. I’m reading one of his at the moment. I read a lot of Chekhov, too.

Are you a cinema and theatre goer?
Cinema, no, I don’t go often. So you have missed seeing “Billy Elliot”? Yes, I am afraid so. I recommend you to see it. I like the theatre in Edinburgh a lot. The atmosphere in the Traverse Theatre is particularly good and I have been there on many occasions.

Do you ever think about motivation and what makes you do what you do?
I don’t think about it very much at all. I have always loved climbing and running with other people, so I suppose there is an element of collecting enthusiasm from other people. In Meteorology, I don’t need any encouragement from other people. I am very self motivated about my PhD subject. I lose myself in that.

In one sentence, what makes a civilised society? (Again, a look of puzzlement that I should ask such a question, and the familiar beard tugging).
I think it is connected with the distribution and use of new technology. In a civilised society everyone would have access to the benefits technology brings, not just a few.

Nicolas, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed in a foreign language and in public, like this. I congratulate you on the excellence of your English. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Scotland and the hill running. Good luck with your PhD.

After sending the draft for Nicolas’ appoval, I received the following e-mail

Hi, Alex,
It is very nice to hear from you. I am very pleased to have met you during this trip in the Pyrenees and have been impressed with your charism. I have read the interview and I think it is nice and distracting. I have just done minor corrections, concerning the spelling of Clermont-Ferrand, Switzerland instead of Italy for the common places to meet the name Fournier, and to the question about the cinema adding ‘not often’ instead of ‘not at all’ to my cinema attending.
Thanks, see you soon,
Amicably, Nicolas.