If it’s Wednesday, this must be Belgium

March 21st, 2011 · No Comments

When it seemed like spending time in Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam would be a little too ambitious for the time we had, we cut out Brussels as an overnight stay. Instead, I made plans for a day trip from Paris in order to visit my holy grail, the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve, about an hour by train south of the city.

Brussels is a very quick 80 minutes from Gare du Nord, and from there, I took the next train south, full of students going to the university in town. Needless to say, I was the only one visiting the Hergé Museum that morning… A few school groups and individuals arrived after I did, but for the most part, I had the place to myself, and squeezed everything I could out of it in the three hours I spent there. I know those books and those drawings by heart, so being able to look at preliminary sketches, intermediate ideas, and production materials for all of the stories was an absolute joy. The advertising material, posters, and other non-Tintin work by Hergé, as well as the Belgian Railways special exhibition, we great as well. I could have stayed all day…

Musée Hergé

Musée Hergé

Musée Hergé

I returned to Brussels with a little more time to continue my Tintin treasure hunt as well as check off a few Brussels “musts” in one fell swoop. I started with a lunch of moules frites at ‘t Kelderke, with a tasty Belgian beer, to boot.

Brussels

I walked around the Grote Markt awhile, stopping in at La Boutique Tintin and checking out the giant Tintin mural next to Mannekin Pis.

Brussels

Brussels

And finally, I had another Belgian ale at Poechenellekelder, wrote some postcards, and spotted another Tintin relic amongst the bar’s eclectic collection of bric-a-brac. I ate a Belgian waffle and bought some Belgian chocolate for Aimee, and figured I’d done about as much Belgian-y activity as one could do in a day.

Brussels

One more sight on the way to the train station and back to Paris: Tintin and Snowy looking benevolently over Brussels from the rooftop of the offices of Tintin’s publisher in Belgium, Lombard.

Brussels

Tags: Books · Nostalgia · Photos · Travel