On the OB hunt in Europe

So I'm currently on a school tour with almost 20 of my students on our spring break. While looking at all kinds of awesome historic sites (I've taught European history for over three decades and I was last on the continent when I was nine years old), I decided to look for any Omega Boutiques I might find.

We started in Vienna, and it didn't take me long to find the one there.


I went in and found this guy:



While I was at it, I bought a rubber strap for my 1861 Moonwatch.

Then it was off to Paris, and during a lunch break a couple of days ago, we strolled the Champs Elysées.



It's quite a street to go watch shopping:



Just to get the inevitable question out of the way, I looked in the windows of the Rolex boutique, and everything on display was precious metals and diamond bezels - no steel sport models in sight.



But before too long I saw this:



And they had a bunch of the new Seamaster Divers on display.



I was actually surprised by the small size of the OB here - hardly bigger than a couple of walk-in closets put together. (Fortunately it looks like we're going to get a new OB in Troy, Michigan soon!)

We finished late last night with a river cruise on the Seine. Here's the Eiffel Tower lit up:



We're visiting the Conciergerie and Montmartre today (we did the Louvre and Versailles already - don't worry, I'll post more about our trip!), and tomorrow it's off to Florence! On the hunt for another OB!

Florence is our last stop - we return to the US late next week. I didn't enter the OB here in Paris, but the sales folks in Vienna were very welcoming. They found my account info very quickly, and offered me a sparkling water.

Assuming I find the Boutique in Florence, I probably won't go in - I'll have enough to answer for to my wife just for buying the strap.

Seamaster Diver on a blue rubber strap ... and a Seiko GMT watch. Wearing the Seiko today.

Went to the top of Montmartre and saw the Sacré Coeur. Stunning.

Funny story: The Panerai boutique on the Champs Elysées is across the street and a couple of blocks from the OB. A guy was out for a stroll with his girlfriend, and his face was practically glued to the window of the Panerai boutique - he looked like he was drooling at the sight of the watches on display. His girlfriend was tugging hard on his arm to get him away, but her efforts were in vain - he wasn't moving at all. I watched this for what seemed like a full minute, and burst out laughing when she finally gave up and walked away, leaving him there (and he then went inside the boutique without looking at her). Boys like their toys ...

As we prepare to fly to Florence, a few highlights of the sites in and around Paris ...

From the Louvre:

Anybody know this one?

Check out the calves on this guy! (Louis XIV, age 63)

At Notre-Dame:


The newly restored interior, reopened last December

At Versailles:


A gate depicting the iconography of the Sun King


The Hall of Mirrors


A reclining statue representing the River Seine

A view of Paris from the roof of the Galerie Lafayette (the Paris Opera is the prominent building)

A race of model sailboats in the Luxembourg Gardens

The Conciergerie, which used to be the medieval palace of the Capetian kings. During the French Revolution it was used as a prison for condemned counter-revolutionaries, and Marie Antoinette was held here prior to her execution.

This is the "Room of Names," lined with tiles. Each tile shows the name of a victim of the Revolutionary Tribunal during the Reign of Terror, which lasted from 1793 to 1794. (There is also a searchable database in the room where you can find out more about any one of these individuals.) There were about 40,000 victims, many executed without any form of due process. At the height of the Terror in the spring of 1794, more than 25 executions were carried out per day in Paris alone. As a history teacher who has taught this subject for about thirty years, I was perhaps most affected by this.

More when we get to Florence. Thanks to all of you for accompanying me on the journey!

Walked past it yesterday.

The OB in Florence is great! I bought a red and black striped NATO for the Seamaster I was wearing, knowing it would also look good on my Speedmaster. My wife was wearing her Aquaterra, so they knew we were in “the tribe”, so to speak. Subsequently, the whole staff gave us the royal treatment - you’d think I was buying buying a Bentley, not a just watch strap!

Super nice experience and a happy souvenir! Here’s the strap later in the same vacation, up at Cinque Terre:

Found it yesterday, after walking along the Arno with a few of my students. We also walked across the Ponte Vecchio, and I tried to explain the concept of Veblen goods to my students as they gazed at a Patek Philippe display window.

Great day yesterday - we went to the Uffizi in the morning, then the Duomo and Santa Croce in the afternoon. It definitely hit my bucket list.

A colleague and I waited for the students in the main piazza after dinner while the kids went to get one last gelato before returning to the hotel. Beautiful at night.

Off to Siena for our final day today before we fly back to Detroit tomorrow.