After nine hours of driving, crossing the Austrian border and suddenly spotting the mountains beautifully coloured by the sunset was enough to make all the stress of the last days disappear. Intense were those couple of days before travelling where I had to pass some exams, move out of my Parisian apartment (thank you family team for the help!), leave my loved-ones behind (human and non-humans) and finish preparing in a day my departure into this new life chapter.

The next morning, my scientific supervisor picks me up from the flat and up we went to the Monkey Mountain, Affenberg, just 10 minutes away. And oh did that sight bring a smile to my face. Here I really am, standing in the glittering snow looking at free-ranging monkeys I have the amazing opportunity of studying.

The first step of my study is to recognise them; I am going to be observing their behaviour, I have to know who I am looking at! So I walk around looking at their face, their body, their behaviour, the other monkeys around them and slowly associating the names. Sakura, James Bond, Marie Curie, Wolverine, each year is a different theme: singers, writers, scientists!…

So far, the weather has also been a delight. I was even lucky to get fresh snow making the place even more poetic.