Riviera Vacation
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To: All employees
From: USSure Board of Directors
Re: Holiday surprise
The Board of Directors wishes to announce this year's winner of the Employee Holiday Drawing. Our congratulations go to Cindy Smith of our Centerton office. She and a guest will receive round trip tickets to any location in Europe plus $250 per day to help offset lodging and meal expenses for a three-week vacation. Congrats Cindy.
We also want to thank everyone for all the hard work performed on behalf of the company. In addition to any year-end bonuses or raises, the board has authorized a $1000 VISA gift card be made out to every employee and manager.
Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year.
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Cindy could hardly believe it when she logged in Tuesday morning and read the announcement twice to confirm she was indeed the winner of the drawing. She was amazed a mere five-year employee was able to win such a wonderful prize. What she also couldn't have imagined was how her coworkers responded to the news.
First was her PA Suzanne who came running in a few minutes later. "Cindy, did you see the news? Isn't that great, you lucky bitch!" she laughed.
"Yeah, Suze, I can hardly believe it myself. How could I, with just five-years, get so lucky?"
"I understand they include every employee who has been with the company for at least a year, so you qualified. Where you gonna go?"
"Oh, I haven't even thought about it yet. I'll need to talk with Ted and see what he'd like to do. I bet he wants to go to Sweden and look at all the blonde beauties there, but I'm thinking the Med is more interesting."
"Oooh, the Riviera! That sounds so nice. Or even along the Adriatic. Oh, you're so lucky."
"Yeah, I agree. I guess we'll just have to plan a bit and decide."
Later she received several congratulatory emails and calls from her coworkers, many of whom gave her recommendations as to where she should consider going. Eventually, the excitement died down and she was able to get back to work.
She decided to not tell her husband until they got home. That evening she left work a few minutes early and quickly prepared a nice meal. When he arrived, there were lit candles on the dining room table and the overhead lights were off.
"What's up, Honey?" he asked as he surveyed the scene.
"I have a big surprise for you. Glass of wine?"
"Sure. Uh, get a raise?"
"Nope. Something more fun, though."
"What?"
"Have a seat. Our dinner will be ready in five minutes."
"Cin, what's going on? You've got me worried."
"Relax, Ted, it's all good news. How was your day?"
He recounted a fairly boring list of activities as he drained his wine. She then smiled and invited him to the table. After they had finished most of the meal and another glass of wine, she decided to tell him the news.
"Honey, are you ready for the surprise? It is a whopper!"
"OK, so I'll bite. What is it?"
"Your wife won the USSure annual employee drawing!"
"What's that?"
"Every year they throw all employees' names into the hat and draw out one for a big prize. And I won it!"
"What's the prize?" he asked with excitement in his voice.
"Your wife, along with a guest, will be traveling to Europe for three weeks next year! And they're paying the airfare and giving a daily allowance of two hundred and fifty bucks!"
"Oh, Cindy, that's great! Where will we go?"
"Uh, I'm not sure you'll be going with me," she teased. "Maybe I'll ask Jennifer to go with me."
"Oh, no you don't!" he laughed. "I insist on going with you."
"I don't know. Jennifer is a great gal, could be a good travel companion. Maybe we could find us some nice Italian men..."
"Wait a sec! You're actually thinking of leaving me here!" came his exasperated voice.
With a twinkle in her eye, she replied, "No, Silly, I'm just kidding. I'd love to go with you. But somewhere around the Mediterranean would be a good, don't you think? Interested?"
"Sure! You won it; you choose. So, when do you have to go?"
"There is no specific time, I have a full year to pick from. How about summer?"
"That would be the best for me. I don't have to teach summer school next year, so I'll be free."
"Great, let's start to looking at things and come up with a plan. Why don't you look up Italy and I'll check out France. Oh, Honey, it's going to be so much fun."
Over the next few weeks they each spent time online looking up places to visit. While discussing things together they decided they'd most like to really get to know a few places intimately rather than do a big tour and France was their preferred destination. They penciled out a week in Paris and two weeks in southern France along the Riviera. They also chose July, preferring to avoid the worst of the crowds in August. The final details would be settled over the next few months.
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Their jet flew out of JFK on a beautiful July evening. They flew through the shortened night and arrived at Orly in the early morning, local time. Once on the ground they taxied for what seemed like hours until they reached the terminal. Eventually they made their way through customs and immigration before traveling to the center of Paris. Once there, a taxi took them to their B&B where they stored their luggage before walking to a sidewalk restaurant for a quick meal. After the meal they went back to the room and slept until early morning.
The next week was devoted to seeing the sights of Paris. They hit the big museums, rode to the top of the Eifel Tower and visited the Arc de Triomphe. On one day they visited the burned-out ruins of Notre Dame, a sight which brought tears to her eyes.
After their week in Paris, they were excited to head to Nice on the Mediterranean coast. They took the bullet train so they could see the countryside up close. In Nice they had a wonderful room in a smaller hotel along the Promenade des Anglais, the main road along the waterfront. Their view from several floors up was delightful and they had good meals in the local restaurants.
After two days of exploring in town, they toured around the area and visited the old mountain town of Eze. It was high on a steep little mountain and featured wonderful art galleries, good restaurants and spectacular views of the Mediterranean. With her binoculars Cindy looked carefully at the coast below her and could see attractive beaches and steep bluffs.
"Honey, look at the coast. We need to hit the beaches, don't you think?"
"Sure, let's do that tomorrow," he replied. Then in a softer voice he whispered in her ear, "You know, some of those beaches are topless. Interested?"
"Wellllll, I'm not going topless, but if you want to ogle cute little mademoiselles, that'd be OK with me. Ya know, I believe some of the sausages packed into those little Speedos could be worth looking at, too," she laughed.
"OK, then tomorrow it is."