11/04 Belgian Comic Strip Center

We decided to leave the girls at home and give them a break from being tourists. They are happily surfing the web and sneaking Easter candy as we head out the door to Brussels. The destination for jerry, Danny and I is the Begian Comic Strip Centre! 

The Belgian Comic Strip Center chronicles the history of Belgian Comics. Housed in a former department store, the Magasins Waucquez, built in 1906 in the business district, it exhibits examples of comic strips in French, Dutch and English. The museum opened in 1989. The full range of comic art is covered, including science fiction, Wild West, crime and politics, as well as children's comics such as The Smurfs and of course, Belgiums own Herge! 

The museum opened in 1989. I read on trip advisor that in spite of its name, it is not for children because it really involves a great deal of reading. Now who is that perfect for?! We three spent a very happy four hours there, learning about the earliest "comics" Egyptian hyroglyphs, past the populate newspaper published political cartoons in Napoleans day, to the modern graphic novels of today. 

We learned about the techniques for drawing the strips and for printing them. All the while housed in a very architecturally unique building. The special exhibit was on the life work of Grzegorz Rosinski an amazingly prolific artist who is best known for the Thorgal comic books, first published in TinTin magazine. Thorgal is  an epic family saga tinged with fantasy. This comic strip was to become tremendously successful – so much so that it spawned three spin-off series, Kriss de Valnor, Louve and La Jeunesse de Thorgal. Besides original works by Grzegorz Rosinski, who drew the strips directly in colour from the 2000’s, we also saw impressive drawings by Giulio De Vita and Roman Surzhenko, who were very much inspired by the exceptionally talented scenario writers: Jean Van Hamme, Yves Sente and Yann. They nearly named him Ragnar but the name had already been taken. Thorgal Aegirsson came into being in 1977, his creators, comic strip artist Grzegorz Rosinski and his script-writer, Jean Van Hamme, had only just met one year before. Grzegorz Rosinski lived in Poland where he was already working as an illustrator, and hardly spoke a word of French. Jean Van Hamme lived in Brussels and was trying to establish himself as writer. Readers were first introduced to Thorgal in a short story entitled La Magicienne trahie (The Sorceress Betrayed). Thorgal is a young Viking, who falls victim to the hatred of Gandalf the Mad, who is not only the leader of his clan but also his future father-in-law. Already on page two, we see Gandalf slicing Thorgal’s cheek with his sword. The scar will always remain visible despite the character undergoing multiple transformations. I am not a big comic book reader, but these displays were so amazing I can't wait to read the books. Of course Danny was mad for it and we know that Jake, the Viking in our family, will be too! 

Sadly , the shop is out of number 1, so it's to Amazon we go. I found out that the English translation is actually set up differently, with number seven in French, which explained Thorgal's birth being presented as number one in English...we like things more linear I guess! Just a fantastic stop, we all loved it! Since we are in the center of the city we walk down through the central square and out to our favourite Turkish place for lunch..Life is good!

9/04 Boulogne sur Mer France

Only 2 1/2 hours from our house, we were able to achieve my goal...find a beach!

BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, the Cote d’Opale...

Boulogne sur Mer, a city with its roots in the ocean

 ,a city known for its art and history.  Just a short distance from the Channel Tunnel in the heart of the Opal Coast landscape is our destination,Boulogne sur Mer!

 The city has 2000 years of history including the imprint left by the Romans, the English, and by Napoleon. Numerous ancient monuments and buildings testify to this heritage: the XII century Belfry, the powerful XIII century city walls, 

These are the city walls, which we strolled around before and after lunch and dinner. You get a great view of the lower,newer city which heads down to the beach.

the Castle Museum. 

Notre Dame Basilica was built between 1827-1866 according to the design of Father Haffreingue on the ruins of the former cathedral which had been wrecked during the revolution. The architect was inspired by the construction of St Paul’s cathedral in London and created a massive dome whose point is 101 meters high. Other features of the Basilicaare echoes  of St Peter’s in Rome, as well as the Pantheon and the Invalides in Paris. The interior contains an altar which is a masterpiece of theTorlonia princes, a supreme example of Italian mosaics dating from the XIXcentury. Unfortunately, the crypt is under renovation, but the church is gorgeous and we lit some candles. 

Altar of Saint Joseph

Description of the incredible altar

 

You will find a warm welcome in the city’s pedestrian central area with attractive shops, including our favourite, All For 2 Euro!

The fishing port, so close to the city centre, is the biggest in France. 

A boat named for our favourite NJ fisherman!

Though our original accommodations fell through, we found an IBIS, a chain here that we love, and got a family room with an unbelievable view, right out to the cathedral!

My guys posed for me after I hollered out the window like an American hillbilly, they were heading to the city walls for a sunset stroll.

We found a great crepe place in the old city and a mom and pop cooked for us. When he went to help out in the kitchen, she kept yelling at him, in French of course, which cracked us up!

Contrary to how it usually appears, I actually do travel with the family, even occasionally making it into a photograph!

Since France is all about food, here is a photo from the fab patisserie we went to for breakfast!

A couple more photos from a great long weekend...

Meanwhile...back in Waterloo!

The girls and I had a bachelorette weekend doing our nails and other grooming rituals which I will spare you! We danced and rocked out to Hairspray, our favourite chick flick and generally enjoyed ourselves.

We did walk into Waterloo and go to Stations of the Cross at Eglise Saint-Joseph, the beautiful old French church downtown. Although we couldn't understand everything, we walked through with the group, and prayed and meditated on the huge paintings depicting each station. On Sunday I decided I needed English for Easter, so we walked up to the Episcopal church in Braine-l'Alleud and attended a wonderful mass. It is extremely close to the catholic mass, though truth be told, the girls enjoyed the real French bread which was broken and passed out in small chunks for communion! The Easter bunny did hop on by and leave reusable shopping bags filled with Belgian chocolate instead of the traditional baskets. The kids were thrilled!

Charlotte is happy!the bunny even left some British socks and caramel tea!

In Dad's office, but still for me!