… we were on the road again!

On October 12, 2021, at 07h54 a TER* Nouvelle-Aquitaine/Charente carried us toward Angoulême. From there, we continued our trip via Strasbourg to Stuttgart, Germany. Following our stay in Germany, we returned to Strasbourg, France, for a few days before returning home.

*Transport Express Régional, the name used by SNCF, the French national railway company, for rail services run by regional councils. Over 800,000 passengers are carried on 5,700 TER-branded trains each day. Selon wiki

Traveling by train is easy, convenient, and comfortable in Europe. We have senior passes, giving us an automatic 30% reduction that may be combined with other special offers, if available. For longer stretches, like the Angoulême-Strasbourg (~5 hrs) and the Strasbourg-Stuttgart (~2 hrs) trajectories, we usually book 1st class tickets which allow a preselection of seats with an electric outlet and free WiFi. SNCF sends me messages if there are any schedule changes or train delays. Taking the train rather than flying means that there is no need to arrive hours ahead of departure for endless queuing for check-in and security. And if hunger pains hit during the journey, just go to the bistro car for a hot croque monsieur and a glass of wine.

Upon arrival in Stuttgart, we had a couple of days together before I moved on to a meeting in a town nearby. For us F1 fans, there was no question how to use this time. We looked at cars, of course!

Arriving at the Porsche Museum via U and S-Bahn – intra-city rapid rail transport – we were a little confused at first,

but cozying up to the cars inside clarified the spirit and alined our vision.

… sometimes with rather funny results, as demonstrated in the livery of the 1971 917/20. Its extra-wide body made it look like a fat pig, as Porsche commented on their own design. As a lark, it was given a pink paint job tracing the cuts of meat used in butchering a hog.

Past the fat pig we ran into a little piece of home in the form of a rally car sponsored by la Maison Monnet, a grande and posh cognac house, which re-invented itself as Hotel Chais Monnet in 2018, the most luxurious hotel in the entire region.

I, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind one of these, not at all. Let me remind you that I gladly accept gifts …

A much earlier model is this 1939 Typ 64, constructed entirely of aluminium.

On the other hand, the future of racing is represented in the development of electric cars, one of which is the striking looking 2019 99X Electric.

One truly funky Porsche was the prototype for the Panamericana with which Ferry Porsche was presented at his 80th birthday.

And with Ferry’s aquamarine Porsche Carrera we shall say good-bye to the Porsche Museum,

returning the few steps to the UBahn station to take us back into the center of town and a well deserved Viertele of Riesling, possibly with some g’schmälzte Maultaschen**

**liver-filled large ravioli, heated in browned butter and onions. Recipes vary.

I have this sneaking feeling that you would just give me the finger and close your browser, if I continued with images from our visit to the Mercedes Museum straight away. Not everyone, after all, is a car nut! So, I’ll give you a couple of days to recover from your Porsche experience before delving into the starry world of the Daimler-Benz-Maybach machinery. See you then!