Saturday: Depart Geneva and return home (or for some, continue touring
Europe!)
This installment covers Days 1 and 2 of the Tour, and it includes about 85
pictures which you can click to enlarge. This first page
covers Day 1 - our first in Geneva. The next 5 pages cover our trip to
the Vallee de Joux and our visits to Philippe Dufour and Blancpain.
The purpose of this
report is twofold; it's meant to serve as both a memento to the 25 tour
participants fortunate enough to make the trip and as a descriptive
narrative of the manufactories of some of the world's finest timepieces.
In coming weeks, I'll be posting new installments covering the rest of
trip.
TimeZone and I would like to extend our sincere thanks to each of
the individuals and companies who welcomed our not-so-small group so
warmly. For this report, special thanks go to Philippe Dufour, and to the
wonderful team at Blancpain: Marc Hayek, Christel Räber, and our personal
guide, Jeff Kingston.
We can't wait for next year!
And
so, the trip begins:
On
Sunday June 12th, 25 enthusiastic watch fans - some from as far away as
Australia and the UAE - joined three guides for the start of a dream week
touring Geneva and the Vallee de Joux, the birthplace of Swiss watchmaking.
The guides for the Tour were yours truly; Nick Lerescu of Advantage Tours,
LTD; and Ron DeCorte, watchmaker, past President of the American
Watchmakers Institute, and TimeZone moderator and resident watchmaking
expert. In Geneva we gathered at the charming Beaux-Artes-style Hotel Tiffany...
...and several of us that had managed to arrive that morning struck out on
our own to walk down to Lac Leman to see the famous 420-foot-high Jet
D'Eau fountain...
...after which we enjoyed a delightful lunch at an outdoor restaurant by
the lake.
(clockwise from left: Greg, Bernie, Clark, Lisa, Alec, me, Chris, Linda,
Rob, Mike and Rick)
Walking back, we couldn't help but notice a few hints that we were in
Watch Country 
Here's the famous Geneva Flower Clock:
Man, you can even get a
mobile haircut in this town...
Later that evening, after an introductory dinner at the hotel's restaurant...
...we unwind a little. From left: Maureen, Linda,
Roswitha, Nick, Alex, Rob and Ken
John, Jonathan, Chris, Luis and Bill
Kevin and Margarita...
...and
a small celebration of Rick's birthday...
We turned in to catch up on some sleep and
to be ready for Monday's trip to the Vallee de Joux.
Proceed to page 2
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