My interest in sciences was stimulated by the 1961/62 AFS scholarship in Chenoa – I remember the relay-operated tic-tac-toe machine built by Dave and I (too bad microprocessors didn't exist at that time, otherwise no doubt we would have developed a personal computer in the garage!). Back to Switzerland, I went through the whole cursus of studies in physics. Before losing my hair (nice hat in the picture above, isn't it?), I married Anne in 1965; we were both 20. Our two sons were born in 1970 and 1971.

After doing research at the University, teaching in high school, and working in the Museum of History of Sciences of Geneva, I finally decided that fundamental research in experimental physics was more fun. This became especially evident when new high temperature superconductors were discovered in the late eighties. I enjoyed leading a small research group as a titular professor in the University of Geneva (http://dpmc.unige.ch). This permanently young team of students and post-docs welcomed Chinese, French, German, Polish, Russian (and even sometimes Swiss!) coworkers. Although all this was very exciting, there are so many interesting things to be done in one single life that I decided to retire in 2005, five years ahead of time. The happy end of my research group was the wedding of my last two assistants, a German boy and a Chinese girl. Now collecting antique books, maps and scientific instruments, studying the family archives and genealogy are my winter hobbies, whereas during the summer traveling, hiking, and sailing on the lake is preferred. Our boat and weekend house lie in a small fishermen's village in France, 25 km away from downtown Geneva. Quite a pleasant life, but I can confirm that once you are retired you are just as busy as before.

After being interested in biology during her University years, my wife Anne worked for some time as a secretary before turning into a full-time mother and gardening addict. In 1999, she decided that she could run by herself the traditional bookshop founded by her grand-grand-(etc.)-father in 1839 (http://www.jullien.ch. This small shop belongs to the scenery of the old town; it is sort of a mission to keep it alive. We live in the house above the shop, which was first built in the XVth century, two minute's walk from the main cathedral where Calvin used to preach, and 10 minutes from Lake Geneva. Our children also have their flats in this house. Elder son Olivier is a photographer, whereas his brother Jean-Michel lives on computers (http://www.numericworld.ch. No grandkids up to now. In the older generation, only my excellent mother-in-law, now 95, is still alive.

When I was typing reports, papers, courses, e-mails, etc. on my PC in English, the international language of science, I sometimes thought that things would have been harder without Pop Elson's typing lessons ("the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog") and without learning English in Chenoa by the Schultzes. One year in the States was an enriching experience which certainly changed my life. Hope to see you again some day, classmates!