Spring 2009 European Tour:  Neuchâtel
May 3rd &4th
By: John B. Holbrook, II
 

During the week of May 3rd to May 10th, three separate watch industry events came together which brought me to various cities in Switzerland and German - my European Tour 2009.  It made for an absolutely fascinating, non-stop week - but I did manage to stop and take a few pictures along the way.  Leaving from Dayton on the evening of Saturday, May 2nd, I arrived in Geneva Switzerland Sunday May 3rd, and was taken by car to Neuchâtel Switzerland - about an hour and a half drive from Geneva at the foot of the Jura mountain range, and in the heart of Swiss watch making.  For those who are unfamiliar with Switzerland - you'll see a red line connecting Geneva with Neuchâtel and both are located on the West end of the map:

Notice just how much of Switzerland you can cover in an hour and a half drive.  Once we arrived in Neuchâtel, we went straight to my hotel - the Hotel Beaulac, right on Lake Neuchâtel:   

The room was simply decorated, and certainly spacious by European standards, and had a FANTASTIC few of Lake Neuchâtel:

Here's a view of the back of the hotel from the harbor area pictured above:

   Neuchâtel is quite a small city - my impression is that Swiss and other Europeans come to the town to "get away" and enjoy life on the lake.  A short walk down the lakeshore takes you to the other major hotel in Neuchâtel, the Hotel Beau-Rivage:

The hotel Beau-Rivage is a grand, traditional European hotel and has a lovely courtyard area with many flowers, and a wonderful vantage point for seeing both Lake Neuchâtel and the much of the lake side Neuchâtel community:

Gratuitous wrist shot.  :)

I ventured into town and took in some of the traditional European architecture. Because Switzerland has been spared the ravages of war which hit Germany, most of the buildings are quite old., but in excellent condition:

After wandering around for a while - I finally found a familiar sign:

WATCH TALK FORUMS Admin Team Member Milos "Watchfan1" asked me to stop in and say hello to the Rolex Authorized Dealer in Neuchâtel with whom he's done business:

After some more exploring, I found another familiar sign on one of the buildings:

My main purpose for coming to Neuchâtel was to do a factory tour at Panerai's facility in Neuchâtel which happened on Monday morning. 

The full report of the factory tour in Neuchâtel as well as the Richemont Group (which owns Panerai) movement manufacturing facility in Val Fleurier will be posted in the Panerai Forum of WATCH TALK FORUMS soon.

So far my European Tour was off to a great start - my two days in charming Neuchâtel had been both interesting and productive.  But Tuesday morning would be an early rise to catch a train to the next stop on my European Tour - Geneva!!