It’s my first day of vacation since my honeymoon six months ago, and it couldn’t come soon enough. The last week has been filled with lots of late nights and early mornings as we prepared a series of four-day workshops for a client. The three-day weekend is just what I need to recharge my batteries.

As I write this, we are once again enjoying the magic of the French rail network. It takes about 4h30 to get down to the coast by train. We left a cool, grey morning in Paris and snow-covered fields just outside the city. I closed my eyes for what felt like just a few minutes (but was in fact three hours) and the next thing I knew, beautiful Mediterranean sunshine was outside my window. I don’t think I will ever grow tired of the TGV network – it really is one of the marvels of France.

We have three days in the sun with Aude’s parents, then she will return to Paris and I will fly to London for the week – it seems the office is really determined that I won’t spend any time actually living in Paris! As we move from winter to summer, the base for the project over the next months is likely split between Geneva and Barcelona rather than Zurich and Paris. At least I’m getting to see a lot of Europe – given that we have a significant part of our client base in North Africa, you have to be thankful for what you have sometime.

Let the long weekend begin…