Calling C# code from Python

I'm just starting on a new major programming project in Python at the University of Oslo. The program is among other things supposed to explore the possibilities of calling C# code from python to do certain tasks. One of those tasks is reading the cells of an Excel sheet, something I assume C# has good support for (haven't looked at that part yet).

My tutor is a Debian/Unix guy, and doesn't know much technically about .Net. He meant though that using scripting languages to call C# should be supported.

Is it possible to call objects, methods, or even find the contents of single cells in an Excel spreadsheet in C# code, where the calling program is written in Python (or alternatively Perl)?

Any help or pointers are greatly appreciated!

- Peder -