It all started with a letter folded into the pages of a book: "I love you - love in as many languages as possible." We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

No one teaches you geography lessons to find the one you really like. It's a complicated, tedious, sometimes enlightening and sometimes bitter process, but it's all worth it when you finally get there.