Mulhouse in a day
Aug 31, 2016 4:50:43 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 4:50:43 GMT
I wanted to go to Mulhouse just as a starting point for a small trip in the east-central part of France. I already knew that is a rather charmless industrial city and it not at all picturesque like the rest of Alsace. However, it has a main claim to fame other than being the birthplace of Alfred Dreyfus -- it is the site of the largest industrial museums in Europe. I was determined to see at least one of them as well as whatever else I wandered across.
My train arrived a little before 10 a.m. and took the new southern route instead of the classic eastern route. Most trains to Mulhouse used to leave from Gare de l'Est and go down to Alsace. There was also a route out of Gare de Lyon and for most of the 20th century it had the dismal honour of being the very last non-electrified long distance train line in France. Now that the TGV line has been completed, all of the trains from Paris to Basel and Zürich leave out of Gare de Lyon and also serve Mulhouse.
This train stopped a few times and allowed me to see the surprising Besançon-Franche Comté TGV station which is buried under vegetation. All of the buildings and platform roofs are vegetalised with local, er, weeds. Last time I took the train from Paris to Zürich I didn't see any of this because the train just whizzed through without stopping. Unfortunately I was able to get only one photo of a platform roof.
Arriving in Mulhouse, I dumped my bag at the hotel and walked to the centre of the city. The hotel was right across for the museum of printed fabric.
There are some massive arcades, but the ones in Metz are much better.
In the distance I spotted Saint Etienne, the tallest protestant church in France.
Downtown Mulhouse -- at least this part -- was a bit dismal, even though this was the main shopping street.
This dog beggar appeared to be the most popular person in the city, even though there were dozens of other dog beggars. All of the locals stopped to chat.
I stopped at the tourist office to get a street map.
My train arrived a little before 10 a.m. and took the new southern route instead of the classic eastern route. Most trains to Mulhouse used to leave from Gare de l'Est and go down to Alsace. There was also a route out of Gare de Lyon and for most of the 20th century it had the dismal honour of being the very last non-electrified long distance train line in France. Now that the TGV line has been completed, all of the trains from Paris to Basel and Zürich leave out of Gare de Lyon and also serve Mulhouse.
This train stopped a few times and allowed me to see the surprising Besançon-Franche Comté TGV station which is buried under vegetation. All of the buildings and platform roofs are vegetalised with local, er, weeds. Last time I took the train from Paris to Zürich I didn't see any of this because the train just whizzed through without stopping. Unfortunately I was able to get only one photo of a platform roof.
Arriving in Mulhouse, I dumped my bag at the hotel and walked to the centre of the city. The hotel was right across for the museum of printed fabric.
There are some massive arcades, but the ones in Metz are much better.
In the distance I spotted Saint Etienne, the tallest protestant church in France.
Downtown Mulhouse -- at least this part -- was a bit dismal, even though this was the main shopping street.
This dog beggar appeared to be the most popular person in the city, even though there were dozens of other dog beggars. All of the locals stopped to chat.
I stopped at the tourist office to get a street map.