Mulhouse, France and other exploits of May 23, 2009

Saturday morning I hopped out of bed and headed off to the weekly Flea Market on Petersplatz. Goal: bicycle! And I found it. I bought an old, red, beat up, French bicycle from a dude who spoke no English. Fortunately, I've picked up enough key words to go along with standard hand signals to get my point across. ($200??? Are you crazy?) Eventually found a little gem that was reasonably priced, took her for a spin, and then walked her home. Yes, walked. You have to have sticker for your bike, and I'm a stickler for rules, so I walked it most of the way home. Plus I'm a clutz and did not want to die in a bicycle-meets-tram collision. I tend to fall just walking, so bicycles are a serious threat to my general well-being. So here's my new bike (with new vignette/sticker):

After this, I took it home and gave it a good scrub down while I waited on Mark to get home from work. Then we headed off to lunch and the train station - destination: France. After a short 20 minute train ride, we arrived at Mulhouse, France (pronounced Mul-huz, Frahnz).

We just wanted to check out the city, as well as the areas in between Mulhouse and the airport. A lot of people that work in Basel actually live in France due to the reduced cost in living. It was a cute place, and people did actually acknowledge us as we walked by. After roaming around through the city streets and visiting with a very nice couple selling jewelry in one of the city squares, we hopped on a tram and took a ride to see what else there was to see.

It's a fairly small, industrial area, but had some beautiful buildings and is "known" for the wall murals:

We grabbed a quick slice of pizza and some gelato and hopped back on the train to Basel. Had to get ready for Sunday - the trip to Augusta Raurica!