After leaving Strasbourg, we headed to Colmar. Population 69,000. Entering town, it was New York that came to mind.
It didn’t take long to realize, no, we’re still in Europe…
…and Colmar is decked out for Christmas.
Like Strasbourg, there are canals. Fittingly, they are smaller.
If you were strong enough to brave the cold, you could eat outdoors above one of the canals.
We decided we were neither strong nor brave. We chose to eat lunch indoors at Le Quai 21.
As you have seen, we always choose the Menu du Jour. Far less expensive and far tastier than eating à la carte. It also avoids having to make a decision. There almost always is no choice. The photos below follow the order of the Menu.
After lunch, we left for Mulhouse. I can’t tell you much about the city – that’s not why we went there. Two ‘Must Do’ on my bucket list (if I were to have one) are visit the Cité du Train and the Cité de l’Automobile. Both are in Mulhouse and both are world renown. We started with the trains.
While there were many locomotives and railway cars, there was only one automobile on display at the Cité du Train – a Citroën Deux Chevaux. Identical to mine. How thrilled I was.
With all those locomotives and carriages on display (and we looked at them all), the one that really caught our attention was the dining car – and its menu.
Unfortunately, the dining car was only there for our viewing pleasure. Dinner would be at our hotel. As would breakfast before we headed to the Cité de l’Automobile.
To say the museum is huge would be a huge understatement. We spent the whole day walking up and down the aisles and we still didn’t see it all. We began with some of the oldest cars in the collection.
And slowly worked our way through the decades.
Ending with a collection of F1 cars looking like they were lined up on the grid.
The museum houses the world’s largest collection of Bugattis – from the lightweight Type 51 racing car to the massive and luxurious Bugatti Royale.
Of course, my favourite was there. A 2CV identical to mine! How wonderful to see one at the Cité du Train and then the next day at the Cité de l’Automobile.
What a wonderful end to our trip to Paris, Strasbourg, Colmar, and Mulhouse.
P.S.
If you want to see just how close the 2CVs at the Cité du Train and the Cité de l’Automobile are to mine… Here’s mine sitting in the sun in Montreal. The front turn signals were added during restoration – just to be safe. The originals are up high behind the rear door.
My interior is identical to – although a bit more colourful than the ones in the museums. The instrument (in both photos) to the left of the steering wheel is the speedometer. A cable runs from it to the windshield wipers. The faster you go, the faster the wipers wipe. When you stop, they stop. The knob to the right of the steering wheel is the gear-shift lever. It comes out of the dashboard. You push and pull to change gears. In between the front seats, down at the bottom and barely visible, are two pins – one on each seat. Slide them out and the chairs can be removed. Very handy for picnics.
Below is the 2CV at the Cité du Train. Aside from not being as colourful, the interior is identical to mine.
