Blogs from Mulhouse, Alsace, France, Europe - page 4

FOUR COUNTRIES IN ONE DAY - PART I Tony and his mother arrived in France and there was an emotional reunion of sisters and a brother who had not seen each other for 50+ years. We collected our car which fortunately comes with a GPS (nicknamed Maria). We left France travelling through Switzerland, Germany and Austria overnighting in Villach (Austria). The weather was sunny with a thick haze over the mountains (mainly due to the fires in Greece) and we went through many, many long tunnels, some up to 6kms long. From Austria our journey took us through Slovenia and Croatia. With Maria to guide us the motorways were easy to negotiate, not so much the cars travelling at over 200kms. Then we reached Bosnia Hercegovnia and two lane roads shared with any form of transport ... read more

We spent 5 wonderful days with Tony’s aunt and uncle (his mother’s sister). Again we were spoilt with wonderful food and wines, all French of course. We met cousins and his mother’s brother and another sister who all made a fuss of us. We toured the Vosges mountains, France´s equivalent to the Black Forest in Germany. Had a day trip to Strasbourg, saw an amazing cathedral with an astronomical clock that included moving statues - it dates back 6 centuries. We drove through many vineyards along the Rhine valley with quaint little villages. Took a trip to Chateau Haut Koenigsbourg high on the top of a mountain overlooking the Rhine river valley from where we could see into Germany and the Swiss alps. Next we are off to Koblenz where Germany´s Mosel and Rhine rivers meet. ... read more

4/11/05 - Mulhouse, not far from Colmar, is the home of the Musée National de Automobile. It includes exhibits of about 400 vehicles and the world’s largest collection of Bugatti cars, including the amazing Bugatti Royale. Some other features of this museum include …. A Peugeot 205 which you can sit in and experience how it feels to roll a car, multiple times, at high speed (not something I want to repeat in real life thanks). A German car called a “Trabant” which is made of “Duroplast”. Sounds a bit like Elastoplast bandages and it is; the body of the car is made from cotton, sandwiched between two layers of resin. There is a classic quote from the Citroen 2CV handbook “A car which can carry two farmers in clogs, 50kgs of potatoes, or a barrel, ... read more