Cheese, chocolate and cookoo clocks ... it's all in Gruyeres

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For any of you smarty pants who try to pull the neener-neener on me for posting on a work-related excursion after just recently saying that I was going to avoid blogging about work, you can save yourself the trouble ... I already know.

Last week, though, following an in-house retreat of sorts with all of the Heads of Operations from ICMC's field offices in such places as Indonesia, Turkey, Syria, Croatia, Brussels, Washington DC, Pakistan, etc. we managed to escape the stale office air for a bit to enjoy the beautiful Swiss countryside in all it's Fall glory.

Definitely worth a few laughs (not to mention a few photos), we somehow were given a superdooper limo-turned bus which apparently is that of none other than the Saudi Royal Family... and normally goes for 5,000CHF a day. I kid you not. After the bus driver explained that we were not, in any event, to put our bags on the (white leather) seats, he proceeded to lead us on board, where we stood with goofy grins and little kid giggles as he demonstrated where everything was in the kitchenette, how the espresso machine worked, how to use the remote controls to raise/lower the poker table, where the appropriate light switches were, etc, etc. Navy blue with gold rims, four large flat screen TVs and a faux hard wood floor, I'll have to admit it was slightly difficult to reiterate to field staff that, no, we really aren't rolling in the dough here in HQ and forgetting to pass it on.

Upon reaching our final destination of Gruyeres, about the only thing convincing enough to make us give up our royal seats was the promise of hot cheese fondue, which, for anyone who hasn't caught on by now, is infamous in the town home to nummy Gruyere cheese. Blessed with a beautiful Fall day, made even more so by having spent so many hours in the office as of late, our plan was to wander around the cobble stone streets, through the castle, enjoy the views, etc, etc.

We didn't make it much farther than the fondue ... unless you count the meringue with thick homemade creme.

Of course, we didn't particularly want to have to admit that to anyone, so we did make a mad dash for the castle and had the appropriate photo shoots ... none of which truly do justice to the beauty of the scenery at hand.

But alas, all good things must come to an end and, while we might have otherwise pursued other outdoor wanderings or visited the chocolate factory at the very least, our chauffeur so kindly reminded us that we must be going ... the Royal family was in need of a lift to Paris for a shopping bout on the Champs d'Elyse. Ahhh, what a life that must be.