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The cloud-shadows racing on the wind, flew over me, tracing bands of shade and brightness over the endless brown trunks of the dark-green fir-trees, I felt a escalating stimulation at just being there on the peak of Salève, at the height of 1,300m… Beneath, far away there was Geneva. It was a panoramic view, the Arve and the Rhone, “Lac Leman” the countryside! I could make out the high buildings of ‘Cité Universitaire’, the ‘Jet d’ Eau’ piercing the sky, ‘ONU’, the beautiful villas at the foot of the mountain the gardens around them, the blue of the swimming pools... |
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As early as in 1580 Greek was taught at the then Academy, University of Geneva since 1873. The Greek language eminent Professors cultivate Greek at the Geneva University. The Productive translators of Ancient and Modern Greek and the perfect Professors at the Geneva University, always hardworking on the culture of the Greek-Swiss relations promote the Greek culture. The “Greek Academy” has elected Professor Bertrand Bouvier, as an “Honorary Member of the Greek Academy”. the late, eminent Professors Olivier B. Reverden and S. Baud-Bovy have promoted the Greek language in Geneva. I owe special gratitude to Professor Wladislaw Godzich, who honored the scripts of our “Manna Earth”. |
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The days were warm and the April sun shone for many hours so we enjoyed more than once the ‘Promenade du Rhône’. The tulips filled the rich soil of the gardens, a colorful huge carpet; we photographed many of the monuments. In the lake the swans were coming ashore for their afternoon care. Basil approached the water, stretching his hand, a long piece of bread between his thumb and forefinger, looking straight at the eyes of the undetermined creature. First the older and most daring swan came nearer and later the others followed. The lake extended under the panoramic view from Cologny. The best vista of Geneva can be seen from the street named after Lord Byron in the heights of Cologny, surely a garden in the hills near an exceptional harbor. Through ‘Promenade des Bastions’ we stood for some while in front of the ‘Mur des Reformateurs’. The Phantoms of the four wise men dominated the park in front of the old well-kept building of the ‘University of Geneva’. We could never resist mounting about a thousand meters on Salève in nearby France that beckoned us. The snow had almost disappeared, leaving only runners of tracks of the earth and the growing plants that had been waiting patiently for months under the thin layer of soil, were emerging now like spear-heads, released by the spring sunshine. Some wild flowers had already spread their petals and their scent, in waves of a gasping soft touch. |
