Mulhouse France

Day 71 Tuesday 14 July 2026

We spent the morning in France, visiting Mulhouse then watching boats on the Rhine before crossing the boarder into Germany then Switzerland to visit my godfather and his family in Basel.

We awoke this morning with a summer storm.. thunder, lightning and rain. After it had passed we hit the road once again. We stopped to use the dump point  in Eguisheim and then made our way to Mulhouse as we hadn’t been there before. 

It is situated between the Rhine River and the Vosges mountains, at the heart of three European countries - France, Germany and Switzerland and became a major industrial center, exporting its products, the richly printed fabrics so coveted in many European capitals. “The French Manchester”: some factories reached enormous proportions, requiring supply by railways and canals. The nicknames “French Manchester” and “City of a Hundred Chimneys” were well deserved. Its industrial sites  of the past have been skillfully rehabilitated — the city boasts museums that stand as tributes to the genius of past engineers and the skill of the workers. Unfortunately its is the French National Day and EVERYTHING is closed… so we mange to find a parking place close to the historic centre and go for a walk towards The Reunion square. Here we find some interesting architecture. The  Rhenish Renaissance town hall with its different shades of pink, period houses, fountain and Neo-Gothic Saint-Etienne temple with 14th-century stained glass windows. Leading off this square are also numerous pedestrian shopping streets with some more historic buildings but it is predominantly modern… rebuilt after the bombings in WWII. We peeked in to a couple of churches that are open.

Then make our way back to Bluey. We go in search of a washing machine in Saint Louis.

Then stop for the last time on the Rhine River and watch the boats for a bit.

Now it’s time to venture into Basel to visit my godfather, Gilbert and Gaby along with their daughter and partner Claudine and Urs. We enjoy their kind hospitality.. delicious cakes, refreshing beers, yummy dinner and laughter, most of all it’s been lovely to see each other again..  the next morning we say our good byes.