It must be said, I'm not a natural traveller. I really don't like flying, it's not that I'm scared or nervous I just don't like the whole idea of it... but my wife has been trying to get me to go abroad for a while, and particularly to return to Switzerland where we previously had an excellent holiday in Zurich. In fact it was the best holiday we've ever had, and pretty much the only place that I've been that I would go back to...
But I was reluctant, because after all, I hate flying. I also hate leaving my two cats Mr Biver and Ming, but... well, this October is our 25th wedding anniversary and so I kind of thought maybe I should do the right thing. We didn't want to go back to Zurich for fear that it might not be as good the second time around, so we decided instead to visit Geneva.
One great thing about Geneva is that it is within a two hour train journey of Gruyeres, and this was a significant sweetener for me because apart from cheese Gruyeres also has one other major attraction - the HR Giger Museum.
If you're not aware of who HR Giger was (he sadly died in 2014), his main claim to fame (aside from his legendary body of dark, twisted biomechanical art) was designing the Xenomorph creatures and derelict spaceship for the film 'Alien' in 1979, but he was also responsible for album covers for Emerson Lake and Palmer, Debbie Harry and Swiss Avant-Garde Metal band Celtic Frost (among others...) and design work for Jodorosky's abandoned 'Dune' project (which was set to feature Salvador Dali) Incidentally, there is a fascinating documentary about Jodorosky's 'Dune' which is well worth a watch if you are interested.
There is also a 'Giger Bar' next door, which is decorated in the style of Giger's artwork, with incredible chairs and bones lining the vaulted ceilings.
So this was all planned and then a few days ago, my wife suggested that I put on the Calibre11 forum that we were going to Geneva, and did anyone have any suggestions of things to see there, possibly 'watch related' but really anything that we might otherwise have missed.
It was at this point that David from Calibre11 suggested that we might like to travel to La Chaux de Fonds and visit the TAG manufacture. I didn't realise this was possible, since the Museum is not generally open to the public, but David very kindly made arrangements for me and a few days ago I received an email from TAG Heuer confirming our visit this coming Wednesday and asking if there was anything we particularly wanted to see.
Needless to say this seems slightly surreal right now, but obviously we are both very excited to be invited and it certainly makes the thought of flying a lot more palatable for me! Since our anniversary isn't actually until October, I've decided to let my wife have her 'Swiss 150 Years Anniversary' Aquaracer a couple of weeks early so that she can wear it for the holiday, it seems only fitting since it has the text 'Geneva' on the dial and every time she wears this in the future it will be reminder of what promises to be a spectacular holiday.
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For my part I can't quite decide which watch I should take. Part of me wants to take my Heuer01, but I also kind of think I ought to take my Grand Carrera GMT, since who knows when the next time I'll 'need' a GMT complication on a watch will be? But then again, maybe I should wear my much loved and still mint F1 Kirium, which was my first TAG way back in 2004 - after all, that was where this whole crazy journey started... I guess I'll have to decide tomorrow morning!
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