Late September saw us jetting to Geneva, Switzerland for a tour
of the Patek Philippe factory. We were invited by LK Boutique and Patek
Philippe to visit the Patek Philippe factories and see behind the scenes of
watch making. Unfortunately we were not able to take photos while in the
factory but let me say it was a truly amazing experience.
We flew to Geneva on Emirates with a stopover in Dubai. Previous
trips to Europe have been after a week in
New York so it was a novelty for Vikki to fly westward from Sydney. The flight
is of course very long, nearly 14 hours to Dubai with 2 ½ hour layover and then
a further 7 hours to Geneva. Of course First class lounges help.
The first meal of our trip was dinner in the Qantas First
Class lounge in Sydney. A glass of rose Champagne got the trip of to a nice
start. I ordered minute steak with chips and salsa verde and Vikki ordered pork
with kale and sweet potato.
For
dessert we ordered the cheese selection and a fig, toasted hazelnut and honey
tart with a rosemary infused cream, housemade ricotta whey sorbet. Great cheeses and the tart was delicious
and light.
Flying First Class is a rare experience and
when you can upgrade you really enjoy the treat.
We arrived in Dubai early in the morning and
after going through all the barriers, we stumbled along to Emirates First Class
lounge. I had been here earlier in the year so it was nice to see Vikki’s
reaction to the Dubai First class lounge. She was impressed with the size and
the fitout, water features, plenty of lounging areas, dining room, spa,
business desks. The service was impeccable and the lounge very relaxing.
The only thing missing from breakfast was
some bacon but it is a small thing. The sausages that we had (veal or chicken)
with our scrambled eggs were sensational.
Freshly squeezed juice and bakers basket.
Scrambled eggs, veal sausages, roesti and
baked beans.
Back on to the plane for the second leg of
the trip which saw us fly up through Iran, then across Turkey and the Balkans before
crossing the northern parts of Italy, over the majestic Alps and then in to
Geneva airport.
After landing we headed to our hotel, The
Beau Rivage Geneva. Located across the road from Lake Geneva, it offers an old
world touch of luxury that was very welcome.
Our room was one of several that had a balcony facing the
lake and the Jet d’Eau, with views to the city centre, the Alps and Mont Blanc
in the distance.
A few shots of our room.
After settling in we had a little time to ourselves and decided
to take advantage of the sunshine to explore a little. Our group was given
public transport vouchers for the duration of the stay. We decided to use ours
to take one of the Mouettes Genevoise across the lake. The Mouettes Genevoise,
are wooden boats that have a long history on Lake Geneva. There are three
routes to choose from and we took the one that goes directly across the lake
and offers good views of the Jet d’Eau fountain.
From our drop off wharf we walked back to the city centre, which took us around 10 minutes. Naturally, we had to find some watch boutiques. We
were also successful in finding M.A.D. Gallery, where I was to catch up with
Max Busser later in the week.
We also found the carousel/merry go round located in the
street leading up to the cathedral.
A bit more walking found us at the Quai de l’Ile, historic
headquarters of Vacheron Constantin. This building is now home to a Vacheron
Constantin boutique as well as home to their heritage department.
At this point, Lake Geneva starts to narrow again and become
the mighty Rhone River. We never realized that the Rhone River starts its 812
kilometer journey down from the Lepontine Alps in the canton of Valais to the
Mediterranean Ocean. You can see the water starting to flow quite quickly in
the photo above and below.
In the Jardin Anglais, near the lake, is the Flower Clock.
Peak hour traffic was a nightmare! We thought Sydney was bad,
but the traffic in Geneva shocked us a bit. Although we were later told that
the road in front of the Hotel is the main one people use to go around the
bottom of Lake Geneva and there is only the one vehicular bridge at that point.
Back at the hotel we had enough time for a quick freshen up
before meeting the other members of our tour group at a welcome cocktail party.
Only a few shots of the food but as it was dinner there was plenty of food and
all delicious.
Tiredness was starting to catch up with us so we headed back
to our room where we had this stunning view out the window.
Check back for
more on our trip to Geneva
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