July 11 – Too hot for an amusement park!

When discussing things to do today, we decided that 35 degrees was too hot to go to Europa Park and really…who would want to go to an amusement park on a Saturday in July. I can only imagine what the line ups were like there!

Quickly before we headed out for the day, we headed to the area where CFB Lahr was situated and were able to find the Catholic Church, the gas bar Patrick’s Mom worked at and the cafeteria/theatre Patrick would go to get fries and sneak in movies. I think it was bitter sweet seeing the gas bar and not being able to share it with his mom but she is here with us in spirit.

So instead we decided to head down to Mulhouse, France to go to the National Car Museum. We were originally planning on going here closer to the end of the month but with the temperatures so high we thought being inside would be better than standing in lines outside.

This museum is amazing. They have hundreds of different eras of cars from Bugatti’s, a Maybach, Rolls Royce, Citreon and more. This was definitely geared towards cars of Europe which made it very interesting. In the middle of the museum they had a few hands on experiences. Sable and I tried the roll over simulator…what an odd feeling. I strongly feel that this should be mandatory of all new drivers. After this Patrick tried the AI simulator in changing a tire on a formula 1 car. Next we hopped over to the line for sitting in an actual formula 1 car. The final hands on was Tori and Sable trying a racing simulator. Some were successful and others had a bit of difficulty.

From this part of the museum, we made our way to the feature exhibit…Formula 1. Here they had cars dating back to before the Formula 1 started right up to Lewis Hamiliton and Zhou Granu. It was amazing seeing these cars and other items (helmets, tires, etc) up close. This was definitely a huge highlight of our trip.

After leaving here, we headed out to a new Costco in Mulhouse to look around. What a layout here. We needed lunch so we headed for the cafeteria area. There you have to scan your card (it is outside the actual carded area). To fill pop you need a QR code, no free refills here. Once done, we headed inside. It is funny it is the same layout as home. Some cool things, some that we definitely have at home for cheaper. Didn’t end up spending too much but was fun to look around. When we left there was no searching of the receipts, just a scan of your card and away you went.

From here we decided to head to another place from Patrick’s childhood…Montange des Singes (Monkey Mountain). After another twisty turn drive up we got there…in 35 degree weather. This is a 24 hectare forest with over 200 Barbary macaques that live freely and wander around the enclosure you go in. When Patrick was here as a child, he remembers buying bags of popcorn and having them come up to you and taking it from you but due to covid this stopped. Also, when they did stop it the behaviours of the monkeys changed as well…for the better we were told. It was hard leaving as they were all so cute, from the tiny babies to the adults.

After a quick dinner back at the AirBNB, we headed out for one final walk around a path close by. Patrick thought it was a path he may remember but as everything has grown here he was not sure.

Now we are all packed up and ready to head out early tomorrow morning for a planned Volksmarch about 90 minutes away (need to get there early so it is not too hot!). From here we will make our way to Austria.

Asking Patrick today if he was happy to have come back, he confirmed it was the right time and well worth coming.

Steps today 14,663…tomorrow may be higher as we complete a 10 km walk.