After we had dropped her in front of the centre, Ernest went to the "Peaux'sitif" fur coat shop, where he had spent his precious career as a furrier for the past decades.
His name was still at the entrance, although he was no longer the owner, nor David, his youngest son, who had taken over the business before selling it off. The successor was a nice lady called Edith, who was coincidentally sharing the same name with David's wife.
Ernest had debuted as a young apprentice in the fur fashion line. As he had accumulated knowledge, experience and capital, he decided to leave his master and set up his own shop. For years, his professionalism, his dedication and especially his easy-going character had gained him a lot of popularity among his former customers.
Ernest's retirement did not end his passion for the career. He always made himself available to pass his knowledge and give advice to Edith each time when he went to Besançon. To him, hand making a fur coat is not only a craft, but also an art. A furrier is the magician who turns fragments of fur into a luxurious masterpiece that many women dream of putting on in winter.
Once I asked him if he missed the career. He said,"We worked very hard in winter. But in summer we had almost no income since the business was very bad. And it's getting worse these recent years. David was wise to get rid of it and have other plans for his own living. It is not a career with which you can earn make a fortune."
"But after all, this career has allowed you to travel a lot in summer."
"It's true. That's why I never regret. If I had cared more for money, I wouldn't have stayed so long in it."
And I might not have known Ernest and Nicole, whose former fur coat shop I would have never expected to step in since I was then only a teenager who had just arrived in France from a tropical country thirteen years ago.
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