Tintin, Snowy and the Musée Hergé
On the long list of things I want to do and see while here in Belgium there was one that stood out more than the others: the museum devoted to Hergé (aka Georges Remi), the Brussels-born comic book artist that is best-known for his famous journalist / hero Tintin and his trusty companion Snowy (Milou).
The Museum's own advertising describes its location as "just outside Brussels" although after an hour sat on the train yesterday I still was not there... Interesting definition of "just outside" then. What cannot however be debated is the international repute and praise for the Tintin adventures.
I've always warmed to these tales and have watched the animated versions many times (even more so since arriving here), and I would love to have such an adventure - although perhaps without being shot at, kidnapped, being thrown out of a plane, beaten up...
The Museum (once you get there) is superb, as too is the building (above), which has only recently been built and opened and is linked to the town centre by a new wooden walkway over barren land. Inside, the tour starts on the top floor and after passing through Hergé's life through a series of rooms accessed by a series of suspended walkways, you eventually reach the conclusion of the tour back on the ground floor.
Each room is filled with a mass of interesting objects, including many original frames from the cartoon strips used to print the editions. You are accompanied on the tour by an audioguide that takes the form of a PDA; with each section of the tour being allocated a number you enter on the screen to load the interactive passages and relevant videos... It is a really clever and unique as far as I'm aware, way of doing this, and yet another positive element to the trip.
Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed to be taken within the museum - which is probably a good thing because it made you spend longer studying each individual piece in turn.
I'd already decided I would treat myself in the giftshop as a result of recently receiving my first ever paycheque (no doubt my Dad was delighted), but I had much difficulty deciding what to buy! It really depresses me when something becomes over-commercialised and thus is spawned into many different and quite frankly ridiculous products, but the problem in the case of Tintin is that I want them all!
I really want the entire comic book collection but hesitation over which edition (big or small) and which language (French original or English translation) meant I instead went for a Tintin mug and a small plush toy of Snowy (couldn't resist).
With the money saved by managing to get a student ticket, I had a coffee in the museum cafe, Le Petit Vingtième, named after the weekly youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle ("The Twentieth Century") from 1928 to 1940 of which Hergé was the editor and where Tintin made his first ever appearance. The roof of the cafe was excellent, covered as it was with former front covers of the magazine (see above).
Walking back through Louvain la Neuve to the station (with possibly the longest station sign I've seen) I was very pleased I made the trip, even if it was pouring with rain. I would certainly make that trip again, but unfortunately it is not "just outside Brussels"...
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