17 May 2017
Excursion to Basel

A Basel native helps Bryan figure out how to enter his parking fee Parking assistance

Crossing national borders is like going from one county to another in the U.S., but it feels very different. Between France and Germany the only difference was a small sign at the edge of the road. After sailing along the highway from Strasbourg we became aware of the long line of trucks assembling in the right hand lane. Then we were fed into one lane at customs, where an English-speaking guard sold us the correct sticker for our windshield and told us that maybe the rental car agency might refund the money, or might not. And we were on our way again in minutes.

We parked the car on the street in a residential neighborhood after fiddling with the parking meter (you had to identify the space you were occupying and ours was across the street from the machine we had The rooftops are all sharply pointed and a narrow street is visible far below Looking down on rooftops selected). We received help from a passing resident, one of the many times kindly folks have spotted us looking confused, and helped us out.

Then followed many streetcar rides in downtown Basel. The main station provided a comprehensive transit map which Bryan decoded. With this in hand we saw the Minster and looked over the wall to the river side. We walked through the produce market which includes herbs and spices and garden-type tools. We found the Rathouse which is gorgeous in red and many other colors with cupids and angels and flowers. We passed the Central Fair which was about to host the World Lego Conference.

It was getting to be lunch time and we ended up near our first tram stop, where we opted for Papa With gold paint trim and dozens of long colored banner, the brick red city hall of Basel is quite memorable Brightly colored city hall Joe's restaurant. We ate outdoors on the upper floor (you can only be out there if you both eat and drink -- drinks only must be indoors or downstairs which was chock full of people.) It was schmaltzy and represented a Swiss restaurateur's idea of American food, but at Swiss prices!

After lunch we climbed back on the tram and had another interesting and scenic ride back to the car. We climbed in and happily Donna drove us back to Colmar.

After resting up a bit we walked downtown where we found competing mini-tourist-trains for the ride around the Alte Stadt (Old Town). The young lady from the Green Train happened to snag Bob first, so we all rode in the Green Train and not the White Train! Colmar is a lovely city, with buildings dating back into relative antiquity (twelfth century).