We arrived in Neuchatel to the friendly face of our great friend, Noemie. After being on that train it was a great relief to see someone we missed for so long. It was just like old times, didn`t feel like we hadn`t seen her in three years but there were some differences. For one, she drove us back to her house. It has been treat spending this time with Noemie and her family. They have shown us all around Neuchatel and Le Landeron (her home village). Yesterday we went up into the hills to get a good look at the scenery and without sounding like a stupid Australian, we found snow!! Yay! Only a small patch but it just topped the day. Neuchatel is beautiful. Now I know that Switzerland is a land locked country but Neuchatel has a destinctly coastal feel about. Only with the Alps off in the distance. Funny how places remind you of things. As I found out, most Swiss towns have a new and an old part. You find yourself walking through the shops and cafes and suddenly you find yourself transported into a century ago with statues and churches and cobble stone footpaths. The mixture of new and old is amazing. Noemie has shown us everywhere - particularly the night life. I feel Sally and I might have got the ball rolling when she was visiting Australia in 2003/4, only 17 and we dragged her to all the clubs and pubs in Melbourne, now she is returning the favour. Karma!! On the plus side we have managed to meet some of her friends who thankfully speak english. I have learned a small amount of French but I prefer not to slaughter such a pretty language by pretending to know what to say. We did do something that you don`t do everywhere....we went to the movies. Wooohooo! We went and saw ´The De Vinci Code`. I really enjoyed it but it has been getting a lot of bad press over here. We went to watch the english version but they didn`t bother putting english subtitles for the French because theoretically, the crowd speaks it.....so I kinda missed sections and had to piece them together. Still enjoyed it though. We are heading off to Bern tomorrow with Noemie Dad, Jackie. It should be fun, we can see the Bears of Bern and hopefully find a warmer climate.