Belgium
Since Randy had meetings in Spain and Germany, we wanted to stay the weekend somewhere in between. France was always a possibility but then I started thinking about Belgium, Brussels specifically. In addition to pomme frites and ale, I wondered if there weren't something Tintin related we might find.
Kapellekerk has a long history starting with the original chapel built in the 1100s, followed by centuries of expansion, destruction, and reconstruction.
There are many stunning side chapels, one of which includes the tomb of Peter Breughel the Elder, and others which are dedicated to devotions. And, since this is a Polish parish now, Our Lady of Częstochowa
After Mass we walked back to the train station so we could spend the afternoon at the Hergé Museum. The trains run frequently with a change at Ottignies to complete the journey. I had read online that it was easy to take the wrong train at Ottignies as there are those that go to either Louvain or Louvain-la-Nueve around the same time. We had walked on to the train to Louvain, initially, but having read that hint in one online review for the Museum, I remembered to check with a fellow passenger. Fortunately, we were able to get on the correct train without any further delay.
The Museum itself it was short walk from the Louvain-La-Nueve train station, but does still seem a little out of place in this newer constructed brick town.
Once inside the museum, we were given specially programmed iPod Touches that would guide us through the several floors of the museum. These were equipped in many languages, including English. Brigid was mildly offended that she was too young to hold her own guide. She had to share with me using a headset splitter.
The guide was incredibly useful, allowing for the museum to keep the interpretive signs at a minimum and just allow the work and artifacts to be displayed on their own. There were a few games among the apps as well, like Identifying the Criminals from Tintin. Brigid was especially happy about those.
While Tintin was certainly a major, if not the major, draw to the museum, the collection reflected all of the life of Georges Remi (better known as Hergé), from a boyhood in Brussels, to self-taught commercial artist, to internationally-known comic book author. The walls and cases included hundreds of original newspaper strips, advertisements, albums, and even Hergé's own drawings for some of his popular characters, like Popol; Quick and Flupke; Jo, Zette, and Jocko; and, of course, Tintin. The curators took special measures to make sure that all visitors recognized Hergé as a real artist, not merely a drawer of comics.
There was a lot on display, and especially for those of us who enjoy the process of art, it was an amazing afternoon. Seeing Hergé's own hand in the original sketches and drawings was something. One of the things that really struck me is that around mid-life, as his popularity was growing, Hergé had to take on a studio full of assistants. For some of the comics, like those that made up Desination Moon, they even constructed a meter-high model of the rocket so the panels would all be consistent. While in the beginning Hergé was more known for his clever comics, he eventually became more interested in using real-world details. The idol from The Broken Ear, for instance, was based on a real pre-Columbian South American sculpture. All of his information about life in Shanghai came from his friend the Chinese sculptor Zhang Chongren.
Unfortunately for visitors, no photographs of any kind were permissible, except the exterior and certain areas of the entrance hall. Electronic postcards were available, allowing visitors to cast themselves in their own Tintin adventure.
Also in the cafeteria, where I thought we might stop for a snack and coffee before the museum closed. They had stopped serving everything except beer (Belgium!), so I had a Leffe Blonde draft. And a picture of Myles before one more Tintin background.
I really appreciated how the museum combined the traditional display media (paper drawings, the actual artists' workspace, models) with new media (iPod audio guides, small screens in the walls showing videos).It worked well together, without one form intruding on another. Since the audio guides were part of the admission, there weren't some with and some without, so most visitors followed mainly the same path.
The gift shop was necessary part of the trip. We had promised Myles he could buy a new Tintin album in any language he liked, but he latched on to the idea of buying a book of other Hergé's characters. I thought for sure he would go for Quick and Flupke, two depression era Brussles street urchins, but instead he chose a Jo, Zette, and Jocko, a sibling pair with a pet monkey. It was only in French, but the humor being mostly physical transcended any language barriers. Brigid was disappointed that there didn't seem to be much for little girls who couldn't read yet, until she found a new adventure partner, Milou, aka Snowy, aka Struppi.
Back in Brussles, we walked around a bit more to get some supper. The kids were not terribly impressed by Manneken Pis. Myles was a little embarrassed and surprised that there was such a crowd gathered to see a statue urinate. We could have skipped this, really, but I didn't want to be accused of denying my kids the unique cultural opportunity that is Manneken Pis.
We made one more church stop to the Cathedral of Sts. Michael and Gudula. The interior was closed already, but we admired the 15th century façade, with its angels, saints, and Gothic goodness.
Our time was short in Brussels, but memorable. The Hergé Museum was a special hit, one that I highly recommend to anyone travelling through Belgium with kids. If we were to return to Brussels, it would be difficult to convince Myles and Brigid we had other things to see there.
Oh, there is the Hergé Museum, in Louvain-la-Nueve, easily accessible by frequent trains from Brussels.
Anything else we did beyond that would be a bonus, but Hergé was our main goal. More than beer, frites, or even Auden, Brussels would hold so much more meaning for the kids if it were about Tintin.
More after the jump
The trains through France were happily uneventful. I had purchased the tickets online before we left China, something I didn't think of on our previous trip (or they weren't available). With e-tickets, I could order in English and no French-speaking ticket agent had to deal with me and my mantra "Je suis désolé. Je ne parle pas français." Everybody wins!
When we arrived in Brussels that evening, we walked to our hotel across the street from the train station. At the intersection I heard two women, also dragging suitcases, discuss in Chinese how cute they thought some little girl was. I turned and asked, in Chinese, where they were from. They laughed with surprise at hearing me speak to them, then shared that they were from Beijing. Of course, that we were also from Beijing made them laugh even harder. We saw them again the next morning, or rather they saw us first. They called to us as we were exiting our hotel, "Hey, Beijingers!" They were on their way to somewhere that they described as a very famous place to shop, they told me.
Sunday morning our first order of business was Mass. I had found that Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, also known as Kapellekerk, was walking distance from our hotel. We could go to an early service then take the train down to Louvain-la-Neuve.
This parish has been given over to the Polish community in Brussels, so it should not have surprised us that the Mass was in Polish. But then again, seeing how crowded the church was for Mass, we maybe should have expected it.
When we arrived in Brussels that evening, we walked to our hotel across the street from the train station. At the intersection I heard two women, also dragging suitcases, discuss in Chinese how cute they thought some little girl was. I turned and asked, in Chinese, where they were from. They laughed with surprise at hearing me speak to them, then shared that they were from Beijing. Of course, that we were also from Beijing made them laugh even harder. We saw them again the next morning, or rather they saw us first. They called to us as we were exiting our hotel, "Hey, Beijingers!" They were on their way to somewhere that they described as a very famous place to shop, they told me.
Sunday morning our first order of business was Mass. I had found that Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, also known as Kapellekerk, was walking distance from our hotel. We could go to an early service then take the train down to Louvain-la-Neuve.
This parish has been given over to the Polish community in Brussels, so it should not have surprised us that the Mass was in Polish. But then again, seeing how crowded the church was for Mass, we maybe should have expected it.
Kapellekerk has a long history starting with the original chapel built in the 1100s, followed by centuries of expansion, destruction, and reconstruction.
There are many stunning side chapels, one of which includes the tomb of Peter Breughel the Elder, and others which are dedicated to devotions. And, since this is a Polish parish now, Our Lady of Częstochowa
After Mass we walked back to the train station so we could spend the afternoon at the Hergé Museum. The trains run frequently with a change at Ottignies to complete the journey. I had read online that it was easy to take the wrong train at Ottignies as there are those that go to either Louvain or Louvain-la-Nueve around the same time. We had walked on to the train to Louvain, initially, but having read that hint in one online review for the Museum, I remembered to check with a fellow passenger. Fortunately, we were able to get on the correct train without any further delay.
The Museum itself it was short walk from the Louvain-La-Nueve train station, but does still seem a little out of place in this newer constructed brick town.
Once inside the museum, we were given specially programmed iPod Touches that would guide us through the several floors of the museum. These were equipped in many languages, including English. Brigid was mildly offended that she was too young to hold her own guide. She had to share with me using a headset splitter.
The guide was incredibly useful, allowing for the museum to keep the interpretive signs at a minimum and just allow the work and artifacts to be displayed on their own. There were a few games among the apps as well, like Identifying the Criminals from Tintin. Brigid was especially happy about those.
While Tintin was certainly a major, if not the major, draw to the museum, the collection reflected all of the life of Georges Remi (better known as Hergé), from a boyhood in Brussels, to self-taught commercial artist, to internationally-known comic book author. The walls and cases included hundreds of original newspaper strips, advertisements, albums, and even Hergé's own drawings for some of his popular characters, like Popol; Quick and Flupke; Jo, Zette, and Jocko; and, of course, Tintin. The curators took special measures to make sure that all visitors recognized Hergé as a real artist, not merely a drawer of comics.
There was a lot on display, and especially for those of us who enjoy the process of art, it was an amazing afternoon. Seeing Hergé's own hand in the original sketches and drawings was something. One of the things that really struck me is that around mid-life, as his popularity was growing, Hergé had to take on a studio full of assistants. For some of the comics, like those that made up Desination Moon, they even constructed a meter-high model of the rocket so the panels would all be consistent. While in the beginning Hergé was more known for his clever comics, he eventually became more interested in using real-world details. The idol from The Broken Ear, for instance, was based on a real pre-Columbian South American sculpture. All of his information about life in Shanghai came from his friend the Chinese sculptor Zhang Chongren.
Unfortunately for visitors, no photographs of any kind were permissible, except the exterior and certain areas of the entrance hall. Electronic postcards were available, allowing visitors to cast themselves in their own Tintin adventure.
Also in the cafeteria, where I thought we might stop for a snack and coffee before the museum closed. They had stopped serving everything except beer (Belgium!), so I had a Leffe Blonde draft. And a picture of Myles before one more Tintin background.
I really appreciated how the museum combined the traditional display media (paper drawings, the actual artists' workspace, models) with new media (iPod audio guides, small screens in the walls showing videos).It worked well together, without one form intruding on another. Since the audio guides were part of the admission, there weren't some with and some without, so most visitors followed mainly the same path.
The gift shop was necessary part of the trip. We had promised Myles he could buy a new Tintin album in any language he liked, but he latched on to the idea of buying a book of other Hergé's characters. I thought for sure he would go for Quick and Flupke, two depression era Brussles street urchins, but instead he chose a Jo, Zette, and Jocko, a sibling pair with a pet monkey. It was only in French, but the humor being mostly physical transcended any language barriers. Brigid was disappointed that there didn't seem to be much for little girls who couldn't read yet, until she found a new adventure partner, Milou, aka Snowy, aka Struppi.
Back in Brussles, we walked around a bit more to get some supper. The kids were not terribly impressed by Manneken Pis. Myles was a little embarrassed and surprised that there was such a crowd gathered to see a statue urinate. We could have skipped this, really, but I didn't want to be accused of denying my kids the unique cultural opportunity that is Manneken Pis.
We made one more church stop to the Cathedral of Sts. Michael and Gudula. The interior was closed already, but we admired the 15th century façade, with its angels, saints, and Gothic goodness.
Our time was short in Brussels, but memorable. The Hergé Museum was a special hit, one that I highly recommend to anyone travelling through Belgium with kids. If we were to return to Brussels, it would be difficult to convince Myles and Brigid we had other things to see there.
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