I was back from Germany (having been there for Tata’s birthday) just in time for Uli’s birthday. Mani joined us in the Saturday celebration, in fact his birthday was a few days before so he got to celebrate also. The day was sunny and the view great so we decided to go to the Salève mountain near Geneva. A gondola took us up the steep cliffs, and we had a self-serve lunch overlooking the city and the Jura on the other side. The meadows were abundant with flowers and after a small hike we could also admire the Alps. The most interesting thing, however, was to watch paragliders get ready to take off and float in the sky. The yellow, bright red or orange sails were a beautiful color spot set against the background of the bluish-grey city and deep blue Geneva lake. Some people took off in pairs (usually one student and teacher), some were alone and did dizzying acrobatic spins. We spend a long time admiring these brave people!
Paragliders taking off from the Salève Mountain
Coming down we decided to go to Annecy for dinner. It was a mild evening and in the narrow picturesque streets of the old town were lots of street restaurants. We finally found a nice one with rustic decor and had a wonderful meal. It included champagne with sour cherries to celebrate the occasion. We arrived back at midnight and the “boys” were happy with their day. After all, they also celebrated having known each other almost 50 years…
The next day on Sunday we drove to Chezery-Forens in the Jura mountains. It was nice and cool to walk in the forest, and we ended up at a waterfall. It was more like a series of pretty cascades in the forest but we enjoyed the serene setting nevertheless. A coffee in the afternoon under an umbrella to shield off the afternoon rain was relaxing. In the evening we gathered in the garden of our apartment complex. Their annual grill party happened and we enjoyed talking French and English as well as getting to know people of all nationalities that live in our immediate surroundings.
On Monday Mani and I worked on a photo project, and after having lunch with Uli at CERN we all three drove around in the countryside and took some photos of the surroundings. Mainly this day, though, we spend enjoying each other’s company and chatting. Mani flew off in the evening and we still reflected on the nice three days we had together.
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