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.

On a lighter note, there was suddenly a Zoo in a park close to our mooring.

We did not find the reason but the display was fun.

Peter M. left us in Strasbourg to visit friends in Denmark for a week. We will continue on by ourselves until his return. 

There will be more to tell so we will keep in touch.

Waiting

We had a few days to ourselves after Pam and Geoff left and before our next visitors arrived so we decided on a small excursion to Switzerland. We planned to visit Zurich for a few days – just because we could!

On the 1^st of September we boarded a train at the Belfort – Montbeliard TGV station  and a few hours later we were in Zurich. We had an apartment booked for two nights in a renovated hotel in the old part of town which we used as a base while we explored.

The city is on the northern tip of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland, The old town, grouped on either side of the Limmat river is crossed by picturesque lanes that reflect its medieval history. The modern town is a major centre of global banking. The city exudes wealth  its residents appear very affluent. We hardly fitted to this prototype but although we found the city expensive and the weather off-putting, it was well worth the visit.

 

Zurich is also famous for its watches and clocks. And no matter where you look, you will see a clock.

The town has a strong history going back before Roman times These statues depict important figures from the 15^th century.

We took a day tour of the city and its surrounds in a coach. The trip included crossing the lake south east of the town on a ferry and a cable car ride on the Felsenegg mountain cable car.

We had coffee at the restaurant and admired the view of the lake and surrounds.

Back to Montbeliard as we had some more visitors arriving. Rachael and Josh with their two children, Mabel and Hugo were to spend a few days with us as part of their visit to France. They were met by Marg at the Belfort – Montbeliard TGV station and very quickly they were at home on Matilda.

We took a small cruise on the canal to give them taste of our lifestyle before they continued on their way.

Hugo amazed us all by showing a real ability to correctly steer Matilda.

Rach and Josh are vignerons from the Perth Hills and the family left us to travel to Lyon and Bordeaux, further following their interests in the wine industry.

Before the arrival of our next visitors, Ali and John, Peter found this wonderful example of a council worker’s artistic skills while Margaret, this statue of  Georges Cuvier, the famous palaeontologist who was born here in Montbeliard in 1769

We are waiting again, there will be more to tell so we will keep in touch.

Sydney visitors

The town of  Auxonne, on the Saone River is at the edge of the Department de Cote-d’Or. It lies on the boundary between Burgundy and Franche Compte. In Roman times it was established at a ford of the river and was a day’s march from Dijon, Besancon and Dole. In the 17^th century, our good friend Vauban altered the town to a garrison and surrounded it with his fortifications. Some of these are still visible.

Since then it has always had a military presence and Napoleon Bonaparte received his early training here. Those of you who read our blog continuously will now be bored with the history lesson as we have mentioned much of this before.

We had returned to meet an old school friend of Peter’s and his wife Bev, who are joining us after their tour of Turkey and Slovenia in Eastern Europe before they go on to the UK. The Colonel, as Ian is affectionately known spent 5 years at school with Peter and they have kept loosely in touch ever since.

We had been told that the Azviller Inclined Plane has been repaired and our plan was to head back to St Jean de Losne, then up the Rhone au Rhin canal to the Rhine. Down the Rhine to Strasbourg and then the Marne au Rhin back to Nancy where we will spend winter again.

In a quick tour of Auxonne  Bev appreciated this decorated round-about.

We continued on to Dole and in the old section of the town, saw the birthplace of Louis Pasteur on this tannery canal.

 The weather was good and we pressed on towards Besancon.

We found the Besancon cathedral that housed this astronomical clock. An amazing instrument whose movement has 30,000 working parts. Far too much to try to describe it here but well worth some investigating by interested people.

Besancon is another Vauban fortification and of course we visited the Citadel. The weather was not too kind but our lunch in the restaurant was very pleasant.

Ian and Bev left us here to continue their European adventure in the UK before heading home. We weren’t alone for long as Peter’s sister, Pam and husband Geoff were joining us soon.

Before they arrived, we explored the city a little more and found this wonderful scene. Every now and again the lad lets some water flow in the hose and the old firefighter gets a squirt! A lovely sculpture/fountain?

Pam and Geoff arrived 18th August and once again we visited The Citadel. – our fourth visit but always something new to see.

We are travelling up the Doubs river here and the scenery is quite dramatic in parts. The Doubs rises in Switzerland and during the spring as the snows melt, it can run very quickly. With the dry spell that France has been having this year, the depth is minimal and some navigation has been restricted.

Soon we were in Montbeliard which is the “home” of Peugeot motor cars They have their origins here and the town does well from the large factories that produce them. 

We visited the Peugeot museum that is full of these beautiful old classics. It may not be obvious but the little green number is less than 1.2meters wide. The body was only as wide as one person.

Montbeliard has a history that goes back 2000 years and since the 12^th century the area has swung from French to German and back until the early19th century. It has a number of grand buildings and structures from these times.

Pam and Geoff left us here to travel to the UK to continue their wanderings We will have more visitors soon and there will be more to tell – so we will keep in touch.