Alsace Wine Route at last

We’re in France for an adventure postponed from 2024. Walking, cycling and culture await.

Wednesday night was spent on the overnight ferry to Holland, we then drove 9 hours through 4 countries to reach Turckheim on the Alsace Wine Route and it’s been piddling with rain ever since.

Highlight of our long journey was John’s conversation with a German lady in a Belgian Roadside Cafe. They were discussing the practice of charging to use the toilets, we were entertained by the phrase ‘€1 for a pee pee? It’s an expensive pee pee’

Cycling and walking are on hold until the weather cheers up so, today, we drove to Mulhouse to visit Musee National de l’automobile or Schlumpf collection as it should rightly be known. The Schlumpf brothers lost the right to their immense collection of cars, in the 1970s, when they could no longer pay workers in their textile mill. French authorities stepped in, and confiscated the collection for what may have been purely political reasons – the wealthy bourgeoisie trampling on the workers. An alternative story is that the brothers tried to sell their collection to a private buyer to cover their debts and pay their employees but were prevented by French Authorities. Wherever the truth lies, this is an amazing collection of rare and interesting cars.

https://www.musee-automobile.fr/en/discover-the-museum/

Our drive back along the Alsace Wine Route, took us through some lovely villages with great views – we couldn’t see said views through the rain so there’s only one photo.

Finally, we had a wander around Turckheim before heading back to our hotel.