Alsace

July 28th, (Sally)

The last two weeks have been a wealth of different experiences. Hard to know where to start, except that the very reason we were in Colmar keeps coming back to mind. We had planned to be in Colmar to watch the Tour de France come through on the 17th of July so it was with relief that we finally moored in the town with a few days to spare. The 15th of July we decided to make a survey of the Col de Schlucht, one of the higher climbs that the cyclists would do on the day so set off on our trusty little 50cc motorbikes for the 50km trip. Out through Munster, famous for its cheese and storks. Storks in Alsace are meant to bring good luck [as well as babies] so they are encouraged to roost on buildings by erecting large steel baskets for them to make their nests in. In Munster they are quite a drawcard and one can sit in the main square over lunch while the birds circle around bringing food to their young. From Munster it was a picturesque run up the mountain to find a host of hardy fans in their camper vans had already arrived 48 hours before the event. With no facilities in sight except a ski chalet/restaurant which was doing a roaring trade one would have to be keen.

The next day I visited the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar to where pride of place is the Isenheim Altarpiece painted between 1512 and 1516. Amazing things one discovers in every town we go to. The rest of the day we enjoyed the ambience of Colmar as they all prepared for the big day. It was a scorcher, 35 deg so nice to relax under a shady umbrella and watch the world go by. The great weather however did not last over for the 17th. We set off at 9.00am and as it was looking a little overcast put an extra jumper in our back packs. Just as well as, by the time we climbed up and up through the forest we had to stop and put on every article of clothing we had. It was freezing and it did not get better. We reached the Col at 11.00am to find the camper vans now numbered 200, 3kms of cars lined the approach way and it was starting to rain. Our chosen spot was 200 metres down hill at the last corner before the summit, so there we set up, with a good view of the track and all the fanfare that accompanies it. For four hours we stood there, getting colder and colder. The carnival of sponsors cars starts about two hours before the actual race, and it is a good natured display of elaborate floats throwing out giveaways to the crowd — boxes of chalk to decorate the road, hats by the hundred, key rings, bottles of water, biscuits and papers. All good fun and the crowd gets right into the spirit. Interspersed among this are the merchandise vans doing a great trade in umbrellas and ponchos plus a myriad press corps and photographers. There was a certain level of excitement when the first helicopter arrived overhead, we knew they must be near, then suddenly there was a flash of colour followed by several cars. What was that? It was the leaders. And they were going up hill! Then the peloton poured past. What a spectacle, just a rush of colour almost impossible to pick an individual. So that was it, four hours in bitter cold to watch six minutes of the race, and we would not have missed a second of it. Of course then it was a mad scramble to get back to our motor bikes and try and get away before the rush. The line of cars was now 4km, so we were competing with pedestrians, cyclists and the first few motorists but we did it, then a flying trip down the mountain in time to get back into town and see them after the finish as they headed to their team buses. The next day we did it all again and saw them leave Colmar via the main streets of the town when they all leave in a rolling start. Once again we were in time for the carnival at the beginning and could see the full entourage that accompanies them.  Like all the major sporting events one is always struck by the huge number of people involved and the amount of money invested. Colmar proved to be a real highlight for us, the town itself is delightful, half timbered houses, a wealth of cobbled streets and close proximity to some gorgeous wine villages which we explored once again by motorbike. Ribeauville and Riquewihr are two of the most well known, and both worth a visit though we found Riquewihr on a lovely Sunday afternoon just a bit too touristy for us.

As we left Colmar we met an English couple on their narrow boat who were also venturing onto the Rhine. I shudder to think of them sharing a lock with a super tanker or a fully laden barge which we did on the way south. We had a very uneventful but hard working day against the current as we travelled from Colmar to Mulhouse where we moored up in the centre of town. Mulhouse has none of the charm of other cities in Alsace but it does have one of the best museums that we have seen. What the Louvre is to art the Cite de l’Automobile is to cars. A marvellous collection of over 400 cars dating from 1890’s all in perfectly restored order. The story behind the collection is almost as fascinating as the collection. Two brothers, Hans and Fritz Schlumpf had a woollen mill in Mulhouse and one started the collection by buying up Bugatti’s. He had one of his mills discretely converted into a workshop and employed 40 craftsmen, all sworn to secrecy, to restore cars. The cars arrived in trainloads, but he kept only the best and was on the point of displaying them when the wool business collapsed and his 2,000 workers were unemployed. The brothers fled to Switzerland, the workers broke into the factory and found the cars so decided to open it up to the public. Fortunately the cars were never sold off to pay the debts as they now form the basis of a growing collection which includes 127 Bugattis, countless Rolls Royces and other priceless classic brands too numerous to mention.

Mulhouse was also where we had planned to meet up with Delphine, our Rotary exchange student from 1994-5. Now where did all those years go? She and her partner, Francois, arrived last Saturday afternoon on a direct flight from London to Mulhouse in time to enjoy Champagne on the deck of Sable, a barbecue meal and a rousing game of Mexican Train. On Sunday, as they had a hire-car, Francois offered to show us the Route de Cretes through the Vosges mountains. What a spectacular drive that is, the Route de Cretes was created by the French in WW1 to supply front line troops and its purpose is made all too clear as you pass the sites of several Military Cemeteries and the memorials to the bloodiest battles that took place in this the Southernmost length of the Western Front. Whereever one goes in France it is hard to escape the bloodshed that has taken place. We stopped at Grand Ballon, the highest point in the Vosges and walked the trail to the top for some stunning views of the Alsace Plain, the Black Forest across the Rhine and a wonderful clear view of the Swiss Alps. From there we continued on and turned to come down through the route of the Tour to Munster and on to the small wine village of Turckheim where with Delphine’s know-how we avoided the tourist strip of restaurants and found a vine draped courtyard where the food more than matched the ambience. So there you have it, a fortnight of great sport, great art, great sights, almost great weather, great company and great food. Almost forgot to add that Ribeauville is renowned for its Reisling so the wine was pretty good too.