Viva La France! Mulhouse (Alsace Region) and Kaysersberg, With Friend and Student, Arthur (et famille...)

Et voila! Je suis en France!!! 

In particular, Mulhouse, in the region of Alsace, where I have never been prior to now. 

After a 23 year absence--yes, my last time here was in the year 2000--it is awesome to be back in the country I have always loved so much. My French is slowly returning to me, after spending the whole weekend speaking it with Arthur's family. (They DO speak a fair amount of English, but were kind enough to indulge me and my poor French so I could at least practice!) 

It was a wonderful weekend of visiting the historical center, along with a classic car museum; eating lots of good food (both French and Italian style, minus the meat for me); walking in a lush, foresty-like park nearby; going on an e-bike ride solo (along the town's river and into the greater area around the town); and finally, visiting a wonderful, historic (and very well-preserved) town called "Kayserberg". The whole area has an interesting feel: being so close to the border of Germany, it is a strange mix of both cultures, mostly reflected in the food and architecture.

I greatly enjoyed Arthur's extended family, especially, where plenty of jokes and good humor abounded. Clearly, these folks get along great with each other...I wish I could be adopted into this family! I felt very welcomed and very much a part of everything while I was here, even if I struggled to understand the conversations, and had to ask Arthur (and others!) for translation. All in all, it was a very good time, which passed all too quickly!  

Every French centre must, of course, have it's cathedral... and often in the likeness of the famous Notre Dame of Paris... as this one is! 


Lovely river running through the town...also obligatoire, so it seems...


Arthur's place of work: a homeopathic/allopathic pharmacy in the historical center. The building itself was lovely... a couple hundred years old, I believe... (Arthur is on the right, chatting with fellow employees. He was off on this particular day.)


The exterior of the pharmacy


Government building in the main town square.


The town was filled with beautiful old architecture, like this building you see here. 




A lovely meal at Arthur's home! On the left: his brother, Jean-Eduard; on the right, J.E.'s girlfriend, Kansu, and his mother, Isabelle. There was always much merriment and good food to be had with this lovely family, and I was honored to be a part of it all for my extended weekend here. 


Another view of the lovely city center... 


...and angle on the glorious cathedral... 


On another day, Isabelle treated us all to a magnificent auto museum, the collection of multi-millionaires-- Germans--who had a passion for them. Now, the museum is a famous attraction in Mulhouse...it is extensive and MOST interesting and impressive! Here, you see antique race cars...Renaults, Ferraris and the like! 


Then, a whole gamut of "basic", and absolutely beautiful, classic cars! 






Veritably, every make--from every country!--was represented at the museum...it was QUITE spectacular!


This crazy contraption--one of the earliest models, invented in the late 1800's, was a weird hybrid of a car and train--it actually runs on a steam engine! I had to wonder...how on earth did they feed the engine with  the fuel (wood?!!?)  while driving?!?! And we think cell phones are hazardous...!!!! 




On my final day in Mulhouse, Arthur took me to a delightful, neighboring village called "Kaysersberg", a fascinating mix of French and (mostly) German architecture. We also climbed up the tower in the ruins of a chateau dating back to the 1200's --- we had a positively magnificent view of the fertile valley below, famous for wine grapes, but of course! It was a wonderful, last excursion with him... and ended with a delicious meal in a local restaurant. 






Arthur pointed out an interesting detail to me about the houses built 4-500 years ago: the overhanging second stories were because the occupants only got taxed on the measurements of the BOTTOM of the structures, not any other floors! Hence, the owners capitalized on this by building the second stories a few square meters larger--hence, the overhanging section you see from the street. Fascinating!!! 










The iconic "gingerbread man" is everywhere...but they don't call it that... simply the French version of spiced bread, or "pain de l'epices"! 




The tower of the ruins we climbed... 


...and the magnificent views from the top! 
















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