Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic it wasn't possible to hold the 34th meeting as foreseen in September 2020. This meeting, which was organised by Andreas Bucher and Felix Zimmermann in Schwarzsee in the Swiss pre-alps, was therefore held from 2 to 5 September 2021. The meeting hotel was the 4-star Hostellerie am Schwarzsee and the cost was CHF 760 per person sharing a double room or CHF 870 per person in a single room. The meeting, which was sponsored by Emil Frey, was attended by 72 participants with 36 Montreals and three other Alfa Romeo cars.
The preliminary programme was described in English, French and German. Participants were welcomed by the organizers' wives, Helena Bucher and Theresia Zimmermann, after which cocktails were served on a wooden jetty projecting over the lake, with Swiss music provided by alpine horn players. On the Friday, the Montreals drove to the Cailler chocolate factory at Broc, where everybody learned about the historical background, saw the production process, and all were able to sample the products directly from the factory.
The participants then drove on to Gruyère, where lunch was served and followed by an audio-guided tour of a Gruyère cheese factory where the cheese is made in large copper vats. Here too samples were provided and various specialities could be bought. The array of parked Montreals proved quite an attraction for the dairy, and other tourists took many photos of them.
On Saturday the Montreals made a longer trip to the Val de Travers to visit the unique asphalt mines. A 30 minute delay caused by an encounter with a herd of cows being brought down from the Alps allowed the participants extra time to admire the wonderful landscape! The mines were exploited for over 100 years and include tunnels extending for 100km on several levels. The early miners worked every day from 5am to 3pm, using primitive tools to extract the asphalt. The souvenir photo was taken in front of an original vehicle which replaced the horses that were used to transport the asphalt to the surface.
The day concluded with a gala dinner at which the Organizer's Trophy was passed to the organizer of the 2022 meeting.
Here are some photos from the 2021 Montreal meeting:
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