For the Golfers

Les Fleurs de la Memoire

This Memorial Day it seems appropriate to tell you about an organization in France that honors those who rest in the American Cemetery in Normandy. French citizens volunteer to put flowers on the grave of an adopted soldier. They commit to do this at least once per year and they hand down that obligation to their descendants. You can read about the organization here.

Mystery Motorcycle

The Cite de l'Automobile has a section of childrens pedal cars known as The Jammet Collection. Included in the exhibit was this motorcycle. It appears to be a gas engine motorcycle but it's child size. It's listed as a 1955 Harley Davidson but the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee(I contacted them) does not have any information that H-D manufactured any toy sized motorcycles. Anybody know what it might be?

Artist's Car

Paul Arzens (1903 - 1990) was a French artist with a passion for automobiles. He designed the two cars below. The "Whale" had a large trunk and he carried his art supplies in it when going to location. The "Egg" was his design for an electric compact car. He gained some notoriety for his designs of locomotives for the French rail company SNCF.

Book Review - Golden Prey

This is the 27th in the "Prey" series.Lucas Davenport is now a US Marshall although the service is not quite sure where he fits and is a little upset that he was appointed to the position. He is on the hunt for a fugitive that is known for large scale robberies that include indiscriminate killings. In the latest, he has ripped off a large sum of money from a drug deal killing everyone in the process, including a child. The Marshalls want him but the drug dealers are after him as well. They have hired a contract killer and a torturer to find him. These two commit a series of brutal murders to gain information and seem to be one step ahead of Lucas.

This book has non stop action and introduces two new characters to team up with Lucas. Highly recommended and one of the best of the series.

Two Mercs

First we present the classic gull wing.

And this one may not be so familiar. Hitler had a contest to design the "people car". We all know that Ferdinand Porsche won that contest and gave us the VW. This was the Mercedes offering.

Cite de l'Automobile

Cite de l'Automobile is the largest car museum in the world with over 400 vehicles on display. It is located in the town of Mulhouse near the Swiss border. It was started by Fritz Schlumpf who made, and lost, a fortune in the wool industry after WW 2. His passion was car collecting. He had a 40 man shop that reconditioned his cars. His hobby was too much of a drain on his business and he was in financial trouble. His private collection was unknown until striking workers broke into the building in 1977 and found the cars. He had to liquidate his collection to pay off his debts. France now owns the cars. This collection has the largest number of Bugattis in one location.

I tried to take pictures of some unique cars that included the description. 

This is a rear view of the Tatra. It had a rear mounted air cooled 3 liter V8. Because of it's aerodynamics, it got almost 19 mpg.

Bugatti - Type 57

Under the sheet metal view. 710 Type 57s were produced from 1934 to 1940. The sheet metal covering the frame was changed to produce several variants. This example was at the Cite des Automobile as part of the Schlumpf Collection in Mulhouse, France. A twin OHC straight 8 engine produced 135 HP giving it a top speed of 95 MPH.

Le Bourget - Post WW2 Military

This area has military aircraft from post WW 2. Plane spotters may see some familiar profiles. I was struck with the T6. evidently the French air force used them for spotting.

Alfa Romeo

15th and 16th Century German Firearms

Note the carved ivory powder flasks and inlay work. Guns were pretty then.

These are in the Musee de Beaux Arts in Dijon, France.

For the Sparkies

This is Ampere's apartment on Rue Monge.

Car Pron Coming

Le Bourget - WW 2

Le Bourget - Inter War Years

Some of the coolest exhibits were in the hall for the inter war years. These 20s and 30s aircraft may not be familiar to plane spotters as these are what Europe was doing during that era.

This is a 1920s commercial liner that flew Paris - London.

This plane was the first to fly Paris to New York.

This is a German glider like the ones they used to train their pilots.

More gliders.