zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

For three weeks in Europe, I visited the following cities: Venice, Athens, Virona, Florence, Civadiveccia, Rome, Naples, Capri, Sorrento, Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes and Barcelona.

The bottom line is, there is no "free lunch" in these cities either. All upper-end Swiss watches are virtually identically priced in Euros to the U.S. dollar m.s.r.p. I was looking specifically for a Tissot T-Touch. NOT ONE SINGLE DEALER WAS PREPARED TO DISCOUNT!!

You don't pay tax, but big deal. You are much better off, buying from an authorized dealer who discounts, or a credible internet dealer.

Apart from that, it was a great trip for the most part, except for a few notable exceptions. 106 degrees in Athens. Trust me! Standing on a hilltop staring at the Parthenon in 106 degree weather is far from enjoyable.

The French in Cannes and Nice Tourist areas are less than hospitable to Anglophones which is too bad because Nice was the only city I found that had a dealer who sold only Omega.

The conversation with the clerk went something like this.

Clerk: "Bonjour."
Me: "Bonjour, parlez vous Anglais?"
Clerk: "No. You go."
Me: "Pardon me?"
Clerk: "You go."
Me: "I'm sorry, I don't speak French, what do you mean?"
Clerk: "You go, leave here."

That, I did understand. Discussing this with my shipmates later, I learned that I wasn't the only one treated rudely. One even went so far as to give someone a W.W.II reminder about June 6th., 1944. Anyway, I digress.

Lot's of good people watching on the beaches though *wink*

Regards,

Dave