Peter Margaret and Matilda: More of the same.

Again Marg visited the Belford – Montbeliard TGV rail station, this time to meet Ali and John who were visiting us for a week or so on their way to Galmi in Niger where they will be spending some 9 months working with their voluntary group.

Wednesday 16^th September we departed our mooring outside the VNF office and travelled approximately 70 metres before stopping again. Nothing serious, we needed to visit the supermarket before we left and as it was conveniently located on the opposite side of the canal we decided not to walk. By ten o’clock we were off again, headed to Mulhouse (pronounced Mu-looze in French). A friend of Ali and John was meeting us there and we would all spend a few days together before they departed.

There are a couple of very good attractions in Mulhouse – especially for men. The first we had to visit is the National Automobile Museum. This museum is a must for everyone even if you are not a petrolhead. It has an amazing collection of cars and John and Peter just had to go.

The entrance to the museum is imposing with these full sized cars suspended outside the foyer.

The collection was started by Fritz Schlumpf who, together with his brother Hans owned many woollen mills and controlled the whole woollen industry of Alsace.

Fritz loved cars and before the war, he bought a Bugatti and fell in love with them. He started collecting them and emptied an old mill they owned in Mulhouse to house them. He collected old cars and even wrecks that were bought back to the mill and fully restored by a complete team of mechanics and body workers. The Schlumpf companies collapsed around 1972 and the collection was taken over as a government sponsored museum. The museum houses more than Bugattis and historic names like Isotta-Frashini, Hispano-Suiza, Maybach, Viosin, Delahaye and many more are looking absolutely majestic and elegant in the setting.

This Aston Martin was the most expensive car in the world in its day.

This gull wing Mercedes would have been every man’s dream car in the 60’s.

Pride of place was this Bugatti Veyron.

Ali and John met up with their friend from Galmi, Anne Sophie. She joined us and we took her out on the canal for a few days.

Ali, John and Ann Sophie left us on Friday 25^th September with Ali and John heading to Paris, then Galmi. Ann Sophie was spending a few days in Paris before going to the United States.

We were alone one night, then Peter M. joined us on Saturday.

As we had to spend a few days in Mulhouse, what better thing to do but the three of us visit the Auto museum again.

The plan was now to pick up a pilot who would guide us down the Rhine river from Niffer to Rhinau. The Rhine is a very busy river and the authorities require that vessels of our size and larger be under the control of a suitably qualified captain.

We were to meet our pilot, Maurice at the Niffer ecluse at 0700 hours on the 2^nd October. We arrived on time but a fog had come down and we could not proceed on the river.

Two hours later the fog suddenly lifted and we were under way.

The run to Rhinau was 73 kilometres with five big river ecluses. It would take all of eight hours to travel and we had to be at Rhinau before 1700 hrs as that is when the exit from the river closes. Matilda was pushed and did it well, just in time.

Peter had been worrying about the Rhine leg of this trip for some time but apart from the late start on the river, the trip was very comfortable. Thanks must go to our pilot, Maurice whose knowledge of the river and the big ecluses made things much easier. He was a very affable character and enjoyed getting involved with the handling of the ship. We thank him for his assistance.

Next day we were back in “small canal” country and relaxed as we headed to Strasbourg.

We visited a supermarket to replenish supplies and Peter M. could not resist this cheese selection.

Autumn was quickly coming as the colours around Strasbourg show. We wandered through the city and the old town before visiting the Institutions Europeennes. This is an area of the city of buildings that house the European Council, the European Parliament and Council of the Rights of Man.