AP Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition Beijing

ThomasM's 'All Roads Lead to AP' series continues with a vivid account of his journey to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition in Beijing. This installment captures the adventurous spirit of a collector traveling across continents, blending personal travel anecdotes with the anticipation of a significant horological event. His narrative provides a unique, immersive perspective on attending a global watch exhibition.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition arrives in Beijing, China and the WanderingPurist travels around the world to bring it to fellow PuristS...

When we last saw the WanderingPurist, he was hurtling down the Italian side of Gran San Bernardo, knowing that he just had a few days to make it to the other side of the globe, to the Middle Kingdom, an ancient land that was once and is again an epicenter of the world.

Arriving in Aosta, now the question was, risk the notorious traffic jams of the Monte Bianco tunnel, or turn around and go back up through the Colle del Gran San Bernardo?

Suddenly there appeared before him the answer to his dilemma -

The answer was clear, manna from heaven - if Lamborghini, a tractor manufacturer, can go on to create some of the most exciting, beautiful sports cars in the world, how can the WanderingPurist be turned around by the mere threat of a traffic jam?

Onward!

(WanderingPurist reality check - ok, so divine inspiration is fine and all, but the recipient of the divine inspiration has got to get the message right. The Lamborghini tractor sighting, as magnificient as it was, wasn't about pushing forward and overcoming all obstacles and negativity; it was a warning, like the tractors were to the V12 supercars, that it was going to be S-L-O-W going up ahead, DOH!

So after crawling along for 2 hours on the 1 kilometer approach to the toll booths to enter the Mont Blanc pass from the Italian side (and finding out that the diner at the border, just before the toll booth, didn't take anything but Euros...) the WanderingPurist drops into the French side of Monte Blanc.  The final destination that night was La Clusaz, and you know how sometimes after the darkest, scariest, loudest thunderstorm you've ever been in, there appears the most beautiful rainbow?

The drive from Bossons through Megeve and up from Flumet to La Clusaz was nothing short of EPIC. So EPIC, in fact, that the WanderingPurist didn't take any pictures at all. 

Look it up on mapping software; zoom in; look up pictures from the roads.

E-P-I-C

The drive out from La Clusaz to Geneva International Airport was gorgeous as well, and the WanderingPurist looks forward to the chance to drive the route, back to Aosta, back across the St. Bernard pass - another check box on the bucket list.

The flight to London Heathrow was fairly routine, except for the infant seated directly behind the WanderingPurist - piercing cries of discomfort rang out throughout the 90 minute journey. But hey, at least his dad had good taste - on his wrist was a rose gold Royal Oak.  Somehow that made the flight slightly more tolerable.

(fast forward - The WanderingPurist, a Million Miler with multiple airline alliances, made a major goof that shows that no matter how often and how frequently one travels, one is never immune to the foibles of human limitations - ok, ok, he just plain damned screwed up.  :-( and was left dangling and cooling his heels at Heathrow caught in limbo between Terminal 5 and Terminal 3 for 7 hours...)

Finally, onboard and onward for the final leg of this journey around the world...

Air China A-330 LHR PEK: at first the seats seem impressive and spacious. Soon enough you find the seat too narrow and the armrests in all the wrong places, especially when fully flat. The food was barely recognizable as edible, and the service, though earnest, was far from international standard. I tried three different seats in the cabin; not one of them had working AVOD. If it wasn't for the saving quality of the 777 service from PEK LAX, I would have written off Air China completely as Never Again. This just goes to show that one should not draw conclusions too hastily...

Cultural note: Some of you may remember the recent brouhaha of the Newsweek (or was it Time?) magazine cover of the toddler suckling on his mother's bosom, in the US. Funny how something can take on a completely different "feel" and meaning in a different cultural context -

And FINALLY...

Beijing International Airport arrival hall

(for the prequel to this journey, click here

for part 1 of this journey to the Middle Kingdom, click here

for part 2, arrival in Beijing, click here

for part 3, finale, click here

for Jester's preliminary coverage of some of the special RO pieces on exhibit from the AP museum, click here