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Show Courchevel's ambassador of charm with baby grand piano, there are photos on the wall of Formula One race car drivers, top jockeys and all-around all-around glamorous folk, all with Henri, and all smiling. It is no surprise then that this gracious host currently serves as the chairman of the Board ofTourfsm Tor Tkur-chevel. Tkur-chevel. He is responsible for keeping tabs on the staff of 22 in the tourism office. And it was Henri who, upon returning from a favorable visit to Park City last summer, sum-mer, helped to get his townspeople towns-people fired up about the "jumelage." Henri looks for increased understanding between the countries as a primary goal, and he is most enthused about student exchange. "I am eager for the children to begin their exchange ex-change this summer. Children are open to new ideas and willing to learn. Without old biases, children are able to learn, perhaps mnr nnirklv than aHiilrc " by Teri Gomes If a director were looking to cast the perfect Frenchman, French-man, he could do no better than to ask Henri Benoist to play the role. A six-foot charmer with salt and pepper hair, an ascot perfectly in place in his open-necked shirt and his calf-length fur coat wrapped around him, Benoist looks more like a guest at the internationally in-ternationally acclaimed Hotel des Neiges, rather fhan trie owner, which he is. And just to complete the picture, pic-ture, Henri drives an American jeep with Moet Chandon stickers on the side. A second-generation innkeeper, inn-keeper, Henri has been in Courchevel for 30 years, ever since his father built one of the first hotels in the area in 1953. The building has undergone remodeling and numerous additions since then, but the charm remains intact. The hotel is now one of four four-star hotels operated by the I j .-"- . . . j II I - t w :v - , 1 ' i : ' i "i j ...... . Henri is also one of the people responsible for the joint marketing efforts now underway between the two ski areas. By night Henri sparkles. He has a penchant for surrounding himself with lovely women. He knows the nightspots of Courchevel inside in-side and out. While he speaks bits and pieces of several languages, English is next to his native tongue. i Henri is eager to return to j Park City in March and help 3 his fellow countrymen adopt Park City. Many Parkites in the delegation felt it was c they who were lucky to adopt Henri and get Courchevel as part of the package. Benoistf amily in France. Mbsf guests choose to stay for a full week at the hotel and many stay on for two. One woman there in January has been coming for the same two-week period for the past ten years. "It's simply The Best," she said. In the lobby of the hotel rests a huge book where for years guests have recounted their stays with what amounts to mash notes for Henri and his staff (which now includes his charming niece Cathy, who would win, hands down, the best-dressed-manager award for any hotel). And downstairs in the elegant bar, complete - - - - - - - ... .l ii Henri Benoist, chairman of the Board of Tourism for Courchevel, in conversation con-versation with Park City's Shirley Smith. |