When the famous jazz festival ends and the crowds recede, Montreux breathes a sigh of relief. This year I skipped the festival, although there were a number of interesting shows, Bob Dylan and Pat Metheny among them. My goal once back in Montreux was to complete paperwork that I have not attended to. It was tedious concentrating on that while I could have gone swimming in the lake or on a hike somewhere, but at least I totally completed it. I think that this is something that genuinely does me in, all this bureaucracy and paperwork, but there's no other way of staying completely on top of things. The intention is to update documents almost daily, as I'm going along (for example, creating a prepared tax declaration template for the coming year), but it doesn't really work out like that in the end.


Outdoors at the Baccara bar in Montreux


There are dozens of vinyl LPs on the wall, making up the word Baccara, all of them classical discs

One thing that I did need to take care of was signing up for and taking an examination in advanced French. I have been offered to apply for the C permit, which is more like an authorisation for permanent residency. The Swiss Institute of Higher Management (SIHM) was where the "office de la population" sent me, beside the train station. A lovely Ghanaian man presides over this institution and he signed me up for a mock exam (test de simulation) which I sat during the week I was in Montreux and which he corrected the moment it was over. It went very well and I don't think that the language exam, which is set for early August, will be a problem for me. Still, it's another hurdle to go through, along with all the other items they require (confirmation that I don't have any debts for one).


When travelling from Switzerland, the train costs 70% more than flying


Lakeside view in Montreux, while I walked home