Well the day we leave for Switzerland, spring retreats and we wake to Toulouse covered in snow. Hugh, aka the General, tells me, as I complain about tramping through the snow to the train station and whine about a taxi, that Napoleon would have left me behind in the retreat from Moscow and furthermore he is annoyingly cheerful on the forced march. The retreat from Toulouse was accomplished at last however and we boarded our train to Switzerland. The TGV train was not that fast, alas, due to some troubles on the tracks but it did allow us good views of the fields, castles and villages along the way and we even had a great view of the impressive walls and towers of Carcassone. We left the snow behind in sunny Provence and made our way along the Rhone which basically ends at Lake Geneva. Our destination is the pretty hillside town of Lausanne.
That night we had a lovely dinner at Antoine's house, a colleague of Hugh's, who very sweetly made an entire vegan meal. His mother and sister are lactose intolerant like me (poor them in cheesy Switzerland) and he pulled out all the stops and even produced an arsenal of herbal teas afterwards! Luckily I can still drink wine and it was fun catching up with his children and some friendly post-docs. Hugh bustled off bird-watching in the morning and then gave his talk but I stayed snug in bed reading and keeping warm as I find I don't like going out if it is under 5 degrees (unless for a Unesco-world heritage site of course). Hugh gave another talk in nearby Gland the following day and met people from WWF and IUCN. I braved the elements for a little light shopping and didn't feel too guilty as last time I was here I tramped up hill and down dale in search of history and culture.
On Saturday it was a beautiful sunny day and walking down the hill from our hotel to the train station, we saw for the first time the breath-taking snow-covered mountains that surround Lausanne and the sparkling waters of the lake. It is really a lovely town. We caught the train to Geneva to meet up with our old friends Damien and Jocelyn, who we met when we were in Oxford. It was great to catch up on all the gossip and fascinating to talk about their work as Damien is a Professor of Latin Poetry at the university of Geneva and Jocelyn has a research position in Bordeaux and also works on Roman history. So nice to be among one's own kind! They showed us around the quaint old town of Geneva and even made time for some hand-bag shopping - Jocelyn knew all the best places courtesy of her delightful teenage daughter Aline. We had a lovely meal together at their house and even spoke on skype with their son Basil who is studying in Berlin.
All too soon we had to leave lovely Switzerland and return home to Paris - only a three hour train ride but unfortunately the train was packed as it was the last day of the French school holidays. It was nice to be home though again in our apartment and back in Paris although we only have two weeks left before we head off to America. So sad. On Monday I stayed at home as a domestic goddess and washed and even cleaned a little! I still found time to choose a nice bottle of champagne and some nibbles as our old friends from Adelaide, Simon and Jayne Barbour are in Paris for a few days and came over for drinks and then we went out for a lovely meal in my favorite brasserie nearby. I know I will pay for this the next day, but I order my favorite potato cassoulet filled with delicious cheese. I eat like there is no such thing as lactose intolerance and am very happy. It was all washed down with some nice Burgundian Pinot noir and chocolate cake. The service is great and I decide that I prefer a simple place like this to fancy Michelin star restaurants where they fuss about forks and food doesn't really taste like food. I know that I must be a philistine!
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