2026-06-04 Mulhouse Musée Nationale de l'Automobile

 Thursday, June 4, 2026

Our plan for today was to go to the Éco-musée d'Alsace. Temps in the high 60's small chance of rain, increasing in the late afternoon. So, off we go, headed in the direction of the Vosges Mountains going south. We brought our raincoats just in case. Oh, and our lunches.

Just a 25 minute ride, when we got to the museum, we were told it was closed today. (But there were a half-dozen busses in the parking lot.) Disappointed, we went back to the car to reconsider our options. Dave suggested a trip to Mulhouse (apparently pronounced meh-lose in Alsace) to visit the auto museum. Chuck loves tractors, and cars, and car races. So this is right up his alley. Mulhouse is only 20 minutes south of the Éco-musée. 

Rock-star handicapped parking gave us only a short walk to the museum via its impressive entrance. (See this blogpost ) While Pat and I were ho-hum about looking at cars, we had to admit that the museum was gigantic and well laid out. A special exhibit on Formula 1 cars was an extra bonus for Chuck, who knew most of the models in the museum, old or new. Not counting the Formula 1 exhibition, the museum has more than 450 cars on display, mostly old cars. 

The Schlumpf brothers (Fritz & Hans) developed careers as wool brokers. A car and race enthusiast, Fritz began collecting cars in his middle age. The cars were restored and kept in his HKC Mulhouse wool factory (no longer being used). This factory continues to be the site of the museum. In the end, Fritz would own 30 bugattis.

quote from: https://newsroom.bugatti.com/en/press-releases/history-schlumpf-how-the-biggest-bugatti-collection-was-returned-to-france

These are some of what we saw in the museum.

1933 Bugatti

1930 Maserati

1942 Arzens - designed to save on fuel

Chuck and a Bugatti

1930 Bugatti Royale Coupe de Ville (ask Chuck why this is special)

Formula 1 race car

Having arrived late morning, we had postponed lunch to do the museum first. Of course, by the time we left it was after 3:00. Any hopes of a picnic lunch were dashed by the wet sidewalks (and picnic tables) and the misty sprinkles still coming down. It was a lucky thing we weren't able to go to the éco-musée, we would have had to leave early and/or get wet. So we ate lunch in the car, then headed for home.

Pat avoiding raindrops; Lynn & Dave breaking down the scooter

Oh, and by the way, had we found the schedule for the éco-musée, we'd have seen that in June, the museum is closed Monday-Thursday. Sheesh. 

2026-06-03 Colmar - Petit Train

 Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Today we've pretty much recovered, although Pat is still having trouble with her leg. We decided to go into Colmar to take the little green train around the city. Le Petit Train Vert starts its 40 minute tour of the city center from near the Unterlinden Museum. Headsets let you choose any of 16 languages, so we could hear the narration in English. Getting in and out of the train was a bit of a challenge for Pat and I, but the driver had a stool ready for us to use. 

Our arrival in Colmar

Chuck, Pat, Lynn on Le Petit Train Vert - only the sides were open, so we were protected from any sprinkles.

It's hard to get good photos from the train.

We passed by many of the landmarks of Colmar's old town as we criss crossed small roads and occasional pedestrian zones. This ride is a good introduction to Colmar at 8 Euros per person and gives ideas for places to return to. However, it's hard to take good photos out of a moving train, even if it is going slow.

Crossing the bridge in Little Venice

Little Venice

After the ride, we decided to explore the Unterlinden museum to see the famous triptych of Issenheim. This museum lends wheel chairs to visitors and because we're handicapped, our entry for us and our caregiver is free. France is really working hard on making places handicapped accessible and I see a large increase in accessibility even just since 2 years ago. We also see some people with mobility scooters like mine, or in wheel chairs. Walkers and canes are common. Our generation is aging, but still active. 

This museum is housed in a former Dominican Sisters Convent. I like how the convent's structure is still preserved in its modern use. As usual, I can't resist taking photos in the well-preserved cloister. 

One of the statues that used to be atop the fountain in the center of the cloister.

Back into the museum, we spent time learning about Martin Schongauer, a famous 15th century painter and engraver. He was born in Colmar, studied under his father, who was a goldsmith, then apprenticed as a painter, attended Leipzig University and later lived in Nuremburg where he learned about contemporary Flemish artists. He was considered a master and many imitated or copied his work. 

Two of his altar pieces are in this museum.This one is made up of at least 24 panels.

One of the pieces which includes 4 paintings of the passion of Christ.

I didn't read the info, so I'm only guessing that this is a painting of Jesus in the temple, but I could be completely wrong.

In another room, we saw intricately carved choir stalls from the church at Issenheim as well as a tombstone from the same church. Hans Ulrich vom Hus was a knight who died about 1342. His tombstone is quite elaborately carved, so I'm wondering who this knight might be. Someone important, no doubt. And rich.

choir stalls from Issenheim church

Tombstone of Hans Ulrich vom Hus

We have finally come to the Issenheim triptych. (I wrote about it here: Unterlinden Museum  )

This is a model of how the triptych is put together. The left and right panels can be folded in to cover the central motif and present another in its place. This can be done multiple times.

The final altar piece is sculptured. St Anthony is in the middle. St Augustin is on the left and St Jerome is on the right. 

Our last stop in Colmar was a nearby cafe where Pat & Chuck ordered Orangina, Dave ordered a beer, and I ordered ice cream with meringue. 

I won't need dessert tonight! The pink pieces are meringue (my favorite), the white is cream (I can leave that) and under the cream was vanilla ice cream. SO GOOD!

Pat and Chuck at the cafe

Home again, Chuck took some pictures of the house that  he said I could share. 

Our patio where we had dinner tonight

Looking at our patio from the road

2026-06-01 and 02 Pat and Chuck arrive

 Monday and Tuesday, June 1 and 2

 Monday, June 1

Pat and Chuck Bowen arrive at the Strasbourg train station at 5:30 tonight, so we have some chores to finish this morning before heading to Strasbourg in the afternoon. It was time to recycle the wine bottles from the past 3 months. Grocery shopping was on the list as were few last-minute chores. 

Ron, Chris, and Mad bottle collection

A quick lunch at home and then we left for Strasbourg. We had about 2 hours to walk around Le Petit France before heading to the train station. It was a lovely day for a walk.

We traveled through city traffic to get to the train station where we found an easy place to park in a ramp a block from the train station. Dave had told Chuck to meet outside the train station if we don't see them on the platform.  We were a bit late and spent a goodly long time looking for them inside and outside of the main terminal entrance. Finally, I saw Chuck outside and we were able to connect and move to the car. We stopped at a rest stop on the way home and by the time we got home, it was time for Pat & Chuck to go to bed.

Pat and Chuck getting on their train in Paris at 3:00 pm

Tuesday June 2, 2026

Today is a rest day. Dave and I slept in until 8 and Pat and Chuck slept till noon. We still had croissants- only for lunch.  The afternoon was drizzly, so no one was in a hurry to do any sightseeing. Also, Pat was having issues with her leg due to the many hours sitting on a plane. But no complaints - catching up on news was a great way to spend the afternoon. We had apéros at 5:30 (inside) and grilled pork tenderloin for dinner. 

Too rainy to have apéros outside. Oh, well.

2026-05-31 Neuf Brisac

 Sunday, May 31, 2026

Neuf Brisac and Goodbyes

Ron, Chris, and Mad leave tonight from Colmar to make their way back to England. Our plan was to have a slow morning, walk into town to eat at a restaurant, and then spend a couple hours in Neuf Brissac before heading to the train station in Colmar. Well, we walked into town as indicated by this cute fellow about to cross the street (a reminder to watch out for pedestrians) But our plan for lunch at the hotel restaurant failed. They were booked completely for a large party of diners. So we walked back home for sandwiches on the patio. Then drove to Neuf Brissac.

Neuf-Brisac, along the Rhine and only 15 minutes east of Logelheim, was built right around 1700. The fort was designed by Vauban, Louis XIV's military architect, as protection against the Holy Roman Empire. The treaty of Ryswick gave all the land east of the Rhine River to the Holy Roman Empire. That caused Louis XIV to fortify the west side of the Rhine. It has maintained its original form relatively unscathed by WWII because the Germans controlled Neuf-Brisac and established a POW camp in the city. 

Designed as a double-walled star fort, the fortifications provide a lovely walking path. So that's our plan, despite the threat of rain. Dave parked in the same place as last time and we walked across the city to the port on the far side. From there, we planned to walk half way around the moat to look at the fortifications.

The art installations were still present in the moat. These were my favorites - or ones I took for the grandkids.

This is my favorite one - these bands are red on one side and yellow on the other. They twist in the wind and seem to be constantly moving

This bull is made of wire stuffed with mud and straw

This triceratops is made of wire stuffed with mud and straw

The walk started well, but then  the rain came and we were quite a ways from an exit from the moat. Of course, by the time we got back to the car, the rain had stopped. 

Mad, Ron, Dave, & Chris in the rain in the moat at Neuf-Brisac

We got a tad wet.

The drive to Colmar was short - too short - and we sat for a bit in the train station until Ron, Chris, and Mad had to go to their track to catch their train. The ride home was too quiet. But we were so grateful for their visit. We wish we could see them more often.