extracts from new book

I had no idea, however, how to get to Tolochenaz, so we found a metro station where I could ask the guy behind the glass what to do.

—Bonjour, parlez-vous Anglais?

—Oui, un peu, grumbled the man, juxtaposed with a smile.

—Ah, good. Could you please tell us how to get to Tolochenaz?

—Tolochenaz? He queried. You have to get the train to Morges and then, the bus-

I didn’t quite follow what he said about the bus, but out of fear of embarrassment, I pretended to, and thanked him. We both giggled when I admitted that I didn’t hear the last part.

—Oh baby, you’re silly, Alice teased. She stroked my hand.
It took as a long while to get back to the Gare, and I took some money out on the way down the hill. At one point, we even got lost on some steps behind the station, and I – embarrassed and messing around – started to joke with Alice:

—Trust me, I know where we are, I live here.

In about ten minutes, we found the main entrance to the station. There was a train to Morges in a few minutes and so we rushed to the platform and got on the train. Expectedly, there were less seats on the train than on any of the other ones we had taken up until this point. They had thatched patterns, the colour of barley in the sun. The afternoon heat warming us through – I was in just a t-shirt and Alice wore her sunglasses.