We spent the time between Christmas and New Years exploring the French-speaking area of Switzerland and surrounding France, an area we hadn’t ventured into yet. Not that Marco didn’t want to. It was me. I’ll admit it. See, we live in the German-speaking area of Switzerland but I am surrounded by French colleagues. It isn’t that I don’t like my colleagues, but I don’t speak French and hearing it all day drives me batty. "So learn French", you say. I would, but to understand the outside world I need to learn German, and two languages at once is just too much for my little brain.

After the past few days, I may, reluctantly, have to admit that Paris is not France and that there are some Francophone areas in Europe that have friendly people and beautiful areas.

Lausanne turned out to be not the stuffy old city I had imagined, but a beautiful city with a good-sized student population to keep it lively.

Geneva was not the city of office space I had imagined, but was a stately place with a presence of its own.

Montreaux was spectacular, with its views of the lake and the snow on the mountains behind it.

And the view from the Mont Blanc was, dare I say, magnifique.

I even started to get used to hearing French all day. Live and learn.