Day 15 - Day in Mulhouse

It was cold and damp when I set out this morning, heading off through the silent Sunday streets of more modern parts of town with familiar shop names and fast food outlets for a half hour walk to the National Car Museum. It's the largest car museum in the world, and while I am no 'petrol head' I wandered around admiring the huge number of cars on display, many from the very early 1900s: beautiful craftsmanship, design and style from the earliest days of motoring. Two hours slipped quickly by and then it was time to head back for lunch.

The afternoon was spent in the old town hall, now a museum to the history of Mulhouse. It was the usual selection of interesting domestic items and curios from recent history, portraits of the historical great and good, and a selection of objects from prehistory in the setting of this beautiful sixteenth century building. There was also a small display about Alfred Dreyfus, the army Captain falsely accused of espionage in the late 1800s in what became known as the Dreyfus affair and who, I now know, was born in Mulhouse. 

Finally I wandered over to Mulhouse's 'new quarter'. Built in the 1820s as part of the planned expansion of the city, I had read it was the best example of urban planning in Mulhouse but what that meant I had no idea. It intrigued me enough to go and look. I was not disappointed, although in part I think because I had no idea what to expect; for me the term ‘urban planning’ conjures up images of Milton Keynes or the infamous high-rise ‘sink estates’. Here in Mulhouse - admittedly early nineteenth century Mulhouse - it meant stylish, pastel coloured, three storey terraces. The streets were spacious and the pavements covered by colonnaded walkways while the whole area was laid out in an interesting triangular network. It was all rather grand.

Tomorrow I leave France.