Last months to go….

Countdown has started. The transport day has been set, and some of the guys who will help us pack will come to see if they think we can fit it all in on Tuesday. In the beginning of July we will leave the area, after 3 1/2 years. It feels like a long time, yet the years have passed quickly. Some people I recently met in Finland say: What, more than three years? Already? I feel you just left.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely. We’ve learned an enormous amount of new things. Two new cultures have become more familiar, the Swiss and the French. Much more the French of course, since this is where we live. The old truth, life is local, has proven itself yet again. I’ve said it before and I say it again – we have both become quite fond of this pretty crazy country, with all its faults. Although politically and economically these arenot the best of times, France has an enduring charm which it is very difficult not to appreciate. The politeness, the wit, the readiness and ability to enjoy life that the French display is very pleasant. And obviously the food and the wine are, if not the best in the world, among the best. (Filip and I have still not solved the question about which cuisine is better, the French or the Italian.) And there is a lot to see in France. Where ever we go in the country we discover new things we’ve never heard about before, all of them interesting and worth visiting. We will come back, but probably not exactly here. Further south somewhere is the current plan.

Switzerland has been more of a disappointment, at least for me. We have tried various places and other things to do than skiing, but so far found nothing that feels like wow, we have to come back. Zermatt and some other skiing resorts will stay on the list of places to go, but apart from that – not very much.

What will I miss?

The possibility to go skiing anytime it feels line it and the conditions are right. The long autumn and spring periods, when the weather is good. Which it is not always. This winter we have had long periods with continuous fog, and that is pretty depressing. You live in a constant humid, greyish white cloud. Everything looks bleak and everything feels wrong and negative. Clearly this is not the area to settle in.

I will miss the open landscape, the views.

I will miss many people we have met, neighbours, people at work. Fortunately they do not necessarily have to disappear from the radar completely, but in practice I know most of them will. This is just how it is.

But before all this happens, we will enjoy another spring.