Preview of Belinda_allen's blog at TravelPod.
Read the full blog here:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/belinda_allen/2/1204932900/tpod
.html
This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator.
Entry from:
Mulhouse, France
Entry
Title: "Les
Deux Cit"
Entry:
"
Today my dad and I made a day trip into
Mulhouse, in the
Alsace, in order to visit the Schlumpf car museum ("Le
Cité de l'Automobile"). This really isn't mum's sort of thing, so she was happy not to accompany us this time. It is the biggest single collection of cars in the world, with a grand total of 437 items! Mr. Schlumpf (I kid you not) was a very wealthy
Swiss man who made his money, together with his brother, through a woollen mill in the Alsace - and spent it on hundreds of cars, mostly by
Bugatti (he was an absolute fan of this particular brand). The mill went bankrupt in the
1970s; one section was turned into the car museum by the
French government, and the rest has not been touched since.
On arrival we discovered that a train museum (linked to this one) was also in existence, and that we could in fact buy a combined day ticket. The lady recommended two hours for each museum, and having arrived for the 10am opening, we decided that we had more than enough time to pay both a visit. The Schlumpf collection was amazing; the cars ranged from the early
19th century through to the very latest Bugatti, on loan to the museum and reaching speeds of up to 400 kilometres per hour. Such a boy's toy.
After a good two hours at the museum we decided that it was time to get some lunch. Being such an industrial area, there was hardly anything around that looked desirable; however, we did find a hotel restaurant near the train museum which looked
OK. For
EUR 9.90 we ate a steak, chips and salad (not the best meat, but, well, welcome to
France); also included was dessert and a coffee (very nice - and surprisingly so!) For the price, and especially considering the location, we were impressed.
"Le
Cité du Train" was our next destination. It has only recently been constructed (again through funding by the French government), and was a very expansive museum indeed! The first section was dimly - but perfectly - lit, and contained some much older trains.
Signs indicating the year and type of train were to be found on the floor in front of each train, the letters lit up in different colours (one for each exhibit). In terms of visual effect, this museum takes out the lot. Of particular interest was the locomotive laid on its side in a pile of rubble, supposedly to simulate a train crash, but more so to display the underside of the loco. Another cool
point was the walkway at one point - through an old train carriage!
The second section was a much larger part of the building, but freezing cold!
Apart from displaying trains making the transition from steam to electricity, there was also a mass of all things railway: telephone exchanges, old railway seals and date stamps, machines constructed to control and change points on a track (mechanical and electromechanical), light control centres
...the list goes on. The third (and last) section was a tiny room with some model railways set up. I must say, after the model railway set-up in
Hamburg, nothing will ever compare again! Dad also told me about a model train set that his dad had bought for him and for which his dad had constructed the landscape. The collection, complete with a nice collection of locos from a brand which is not in existence anymore, but which is on par with Märklin, is unfortunately not around anymore.
All in all, both Cités were very extensive, beautifully set-out and designed, and certainly not what one would expect to emerge from such a bleak setting on the outskirts of Mulhouse.
On the way home my dad and I picked up some dinner at a supermarket just up the road from where we're staying in
Germany.
Having had such a large lunch, we weren't too keen on a big dinner; but more importantly, we had some time constraints ..."
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/belinda_allen/2/1204932900/tpod.html
Photos from this trip:
1. "Just inside the main entrance."
2. "
Wall design."
3. "
Cool signs on the ground...and my feet."
4. "
Snow plough."
5. "
Awesome."
6. "
Driver's end."
7. "Carriage from
WWII."
8. "
Loco lying on its side..."
9. ""Mulhouse""
10. "Choo choo!"
11. "The "
Alsace Lorraine""
12. "Through to the 2nd section..."
13. "st
Class: sitting pretty."
14. "Under the loco."
15. ",
Paris."
16
. "In the 2nd hall."
17. "
Front driveway of the museum."
18. "
Photo time!"
19. "
One of the best uses of a front window"
20. "And again. A better shot."
21. "A 1907
Piccolo"
22. "An old-fashioned petrol pump!"
See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0159-b20e-7692?ytv4=1
- published: 26 Apr 2011
- views: 112