Visit to the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture

I apologize for my long absence from the blog, but I have been travelling to Switzerland to discover the secrets of a manufacture that defined and changed the way watches are made. If audit world has the Big 3, the watchmaking world has its Big 5 and Jaeger-LeCoultre is part of the elite.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has been producing watches since 1833 and was the first manufacture to have been established in Vallee du Joux, Switzerland. The Manufacture has an impressive range of world firsts, superlative creations and legendary models to its credit, including the Reverso, the world’s smallest mechanism, 101 (Queen Elizabeth II wore one for her coronation 60 years ago), the Gyrotourbillon or the Atmos.

Everything in the valley is related to watches, so I was naturally a host of Horologers Hotel.

Besides visiting the manufacture and long walks or mountain hiking there is not much to do in Le Sentier. But of course the village has its own luxury watches boutique (no factory prices though) and like four banks…I don’t have any exterior photos as it was raining worst that in Luxembourg.

The best thing about visiting a watch manufacture is meeting the people who work there and who are really passionate about their job. So while having in front of me probably more than a million Euros worth of watches 

The head of high complications was explaining how they work. 

The movie below describes one of the most complicated mechanisms ever created by Jaeger-LeCoultre

I’ve found at least one Diane Kruger fan – a gem setter who had a picture of him and the actress displayed in his “office” (the German actress is an ambassador of the brand and visited the manufacture)

I’ve met the ladies who are responsible with the decorating of the mechanism and I’ve had the chance to decorate my initials on one of the parts. Of course a bigger one because the ones that they were working on were tiny.

I’ve learnt a few secrets from a watchmaker who has been working in the company for 42 years and has been living in the valley all his life

Have been amazed by the small sized emailed cases

Got an amazing souvenir – little wheels, so I have the first pieces of my future watch J All I have to do now is learn the other skills and I’m starting my own watch brand. Big 5 be aware!

And the highlight of the trip – I disassembled and then assembled a part of the watch mechanism. It actually worked at the end…

Thank you Nathalie and Jaeger-LeCoultre for this amazing experience!

Letz Move!

If you are like me and need a push to start exercising, the Ministry of Sport of Luxembourg has launched a very inspiring campaign to promote sport and well being - Letz Move! The interesting thing about this campaign is the website (available in German or French) where one can enter the personal fitness data and keep track of the progress. In return you receive MOVY points – 1 point is the equivalent of let’s say 10 minutes of fast walking.

The website includes some very funny, but eloquent pictures, like the one bellow of the pyramid of move.

After seeing it I felt better, because apparently doing some house work, running for the bus or loving my partner can bring me some points too. You don’t have to exhaust yourself in the gym to get the muscles going – everyone can choose what type of exercise is better for one’s lifestyle.  

I have just started to jog again and I’m planning some exercises in the morning, plus I will continue to rope jump, so I just earned my first MOVY points. What about you?

The macarons ancestors from Nancy

The world has been taken over by the French macarons, these soft and crispy, spongy and sweet, gourmet and colourful double-decker cookies invented by Laduree.

In Nancy I have made an important and delicious discovery (for me of course) – the house of the ancestors of these fashionable cookies – the place where all this craziness started. Actually the first cookies of this kind were apparently invented by the Benedictine nuns who were obligated to sell the cookies during the French Revolution to support themselves. 

Every macaron fan can buy the chewy and crunchy cookies from Maison des Soeurs Macarons in Nancy, where they sell for about 8 euro 6 pieces. Don’t expect the same airy consistency of the Laduree macarons – keep in mind that these are almond cookies that use an ancient recipe not so well researched as in the Parisian house case. It’s a different type, but not less delicious.

Maison des Soeurs Macarons

(21, rue Gambetta, 33-3-8332-2425)

www.macaron-de-nancy.com

The Avengers or how does humour save the world

The Avengers is every ComicCon fan dream – six superheroes that not only fight the evil Loki, but also fight each other in some scenes satisfying the curiosity of comics geeks who couldn’t help but wonder about the winner of a battle between Iron Man and Thor, or Captain America and the Hulk.

For the rest of us is just a funny and easy film to watch and one more reason to love Robert Downey Jr. who not only saved the world, but brought life in this 200 million $ blockbuster. Because all the special effects and tight polyester suits would be zero without his amazing humour and energy. I will only spoil the scene when Thor yells at Loki in iambic heptameter “You take the world as recompense for your imagined slight”, an antique line that immediately exasperates Iron Man. “Now there’s this guy - Shakespeare in the Park.” And the chemistry between Iron Man and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) should inspire the producers to launch a film with the two characters.

For me the 3D technology (the film was converted in 3D after production) was just a business decision, so the price of the tickets could be higher, as I didn’t notice any amazing effect that justified the effort of wearing the glasses.

But do you know which is the trendiest and most talk about sport after the release of the Avengers (and The Hunger Games as well)? A sport that inspired even Louis Vuitton to feature a themed window display this month in its stores? 

Well, archery, one of the oldest activities known to man found a new life and the specialized clubs in US report a raise in attendance.

Great sandwich idea from Keukenhof

Long walks always make me hungry and not even the wonderful tulips from Keukenhof change that, so between two species of flowers we had to stop for a quick snack. The loooong lines kept us away from the restaurants, so we had to be grateful for some sandwiches (Broodjes) with ham and curry mayo. And quite a discovery they were. Then I heard that the Broodjes (sandwiches in English) play such an important role in Dutch culture that they organize not one but two Tastiest Sandwich of the Year competitions.

Since I came back I’ve been eating them every day as I created my own version. So if you are curious here is my recipe for two sandwiches (depending on the size of your bread).

Ingredients

3 tee-spoons of bio mayonnaise

½ tee-spoon of mustard (you can add more depending on your taste)

a pinch of curry powder

ham cut in fine slices

Cut the ham in medium sized slices and grill it in a pan without adding anything else for 2 minutes. Mix the mayo, mustard and curry and spread it on a slice of bread then add the grilled ham. If you have time, you can prepare your own curry mayo, by adding a pinch of curry in the normal mayo recipe. Enjoy!   

Workouts for rainy days - jump rope

Luxembourg transformed me in a meteo dependent person and these long and rainy days don’t help much. So if you need somes good vibes and energy (and don’t count on the sun because it will shine in other countries) why not try a workout. We have been speaking so much about childhood in my French course, so I wanted to remember my child long jump rope sessions. So YouTube helped and now I have again the power to cope with the rain. 

 

Hope it helps you too!