Adventures of Tintin in Brussels

By Gretchen Kelly

Steven Spielberg's latest film The Adventures of Tintin introduces American audiences to Belgium's third most-loved export -- beer and chocolate being numbers one and two.

In Spielberg's film (a blend of several original Tintin stories) author/artist Hergé's globe-trotting hero Tintin and his canine sidekick Snowy tumble through a series of adventures that are part Indiana Jones, part Pirates of the Caribbean. Indeed, the original comic book series and its colorful and exotic locales were said to have inspired Speilberg's most famous hero, Indiana Jones, and has launched the personal journeys of many a fan.

In the books, Tintin and Snowy visit the Congo, Tibet, China, Australia, the United States, the Soviet Union (Russia), South America, the Arabian Desert and outer space. But the journey for real fans begins in Brussels, which is a family- and budget-friendly introduction to Tintin's far-flung adventures.

Photo Caption: Tintin mural celebrating the opening of the film "Adventures of Tintin."

The Belgian Comic Strip Center, a five-minute walk from the Grand-Place, is a great way to begin to explore the birth of Tintin and the backstory of his Belgian born artist/author creator, Hergé. The Center, housed in a grand old art nouveau building, shows revolving exhibitions of Belgian comic strip history but always has something to delight Tintin fans such as the original paint pans and pencils Hergé used to bring his heros to life and a lifesized Tintin astronaut statue. A kid-friendly permanent library of thousands of comic books in all languages is another lure. And the well-stocked shop carries English language versions of all the major books in the original comic series along with bags, mugs and T-shirts sporting Tintin, Captain Haddock, and, of course, Snowy.

Details: Rue des Sables 20, tel. 32 (0)2 219 19 80; www.comiccenter.net; admission €3 children under 12, €8 adults.

Photo Caption: Interior of the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels, Belgium

In Spielberg's film, Tintin and Snowy's adventures begin when our hero acquires a curious antique ship at a flea market. The real morning market seen in the film is called the Vossenmarkt van de Marollen (Fleamarket of the Marollen, the name of its Brussels neighborhood) and it's open every day from about six o'clock in the morning to two in the afternoon and on Saturdays and Sundays from seven to three PM. The real flea market is full of the same intriguing mix of antiques and bric-a-brac that starts off The Adventures of Tintin. Spend a morning poking around here and find a treasure or two to start you on your own adventure.

Details: Metro to the Port de Hal/Hallepoort or the Hotel des Monnaies/Munthof stops (both a five-minute walk).

Photo Caption: Fleamarket of the Marollen in Brussels.

The Musée Hergé located in the Brussels suburb of Louvain-la-Neuve is a must for die-hard Tintinites. Although it's a trek to get here (the 30-minute cab ride is ¬200, so take the bus or train) fans of the original series and older children and teens won't want to miss the most comprehensive collection of Tintin-related art and artifacts in the world. The exhibits, including original art and scale models of ships, rockets and local flora and fauna that the artist used to imagine Tintin's world travels, range over multiple floors. The interior of the building itself is designed to reproduce the facades of Tintin-inspired exotic locales so wandering around in the museum is like walking right into the pages of the comic itself. The exhibits are marked in English as well as in French and there's a massive gift shop as well as a tidy little cafeteria.

Details: From Brussels, buses from TEC (Transport En Commun) serve Louvain-la-Neuve, Line Conforto Louvain-la-Neuve-Wavre-Bruxelles (Line C). You can get to Louvain-la-Neuve in about 35 minutes and buses depart every half hour. ¬3.25; www.museeherge.com; admission ¬5 children under 12, ¬9.50 adults.

For a mere €0.50, Tintin pilgrims can take themselves on a self-guided cartoon walking tour of the city. The Visit Brussels office in the Grand-Place (as well as the Hotel Amigo and other locales) offer a full-color walking map of Tintin's Brussels that take visitors through the colorful facades of Tintin muraled buildings, the original offices of Hergé where the strip was born and other city sites connected with the books and their creation. These include: a life-sized statue of our hero, the royal Observatory -- which inspired Tintin's Shooting Star -- adventure and both the birthplace and the tomb of Hergé himself. Although some of the attractions on the map are at the edge of the city center or beyond, the map offers a well-tracked and easily accessible option for walks in the center of Brussels and in and around the Grand-Place that can be enjoyed in a few hours.

In addition to Tintin, there are multiple other tours of comic-strip sites across the city. Some are as basic as landmarks where significant plot twists took place, others are full-blown murals of favorite characters from decades of great cartooning.

Photo Caption: A comic mural in Brussels.

One of the most fascinating things about Tintin for travelers is the care and precision that Hergé used when recreating exotic worlds for his hero to explore. Hergé was known to spend hours in Brussels' museums exploring South American, African, and Far Eastern art and artifacts making sure the books were reflected real life people and places. Explore some of the exotic worlds that inspired Tintin's creator at Brussels Royal Museums of Art and History -- in particular the Cinquantenaire Museum (www.kmkg-mrah.be/cinquantenaire-museum; admission €5) where you can see the mummy from The Seven Crystal Balls as well as Incan and Mayan idols featured in The Broken Ear. The Museum is located on the Metro Station, Merode, which is a short ride from the Grand-Place. Merode itself is a leafy, residential area that houses a car museum as well as a musical instrument museum and is surrounded by local cafes where Hergé would have sat and sketched after a day spent dreaming in the museum galleries.

Travelers who don't mind a half hour metro ride to the suburb of Tervuren can explore the Royal Museum for Central Africa (www.africamuseum.be/home; admission €4-7, depending on exhibition). The spoils are a direct result of Belgium's brutal rule over the Congo and served as the inspiration for Tintin in the Congo (a book Hergé came to regret), the museum is a world-class collection of African artifacts and historical documents in a listed building housed on manicured Versailles-like grounds. The museum will be closed temporarily in August of 2012 but until then, Tintin fans can take a virtual trip to the Congo with their hero and sit and sip a beer or lemonade in the topiary-filled outdoor garden before the short metro ride back to the city center.

Photo Caption: Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels.

The Hotel Amigo located steps behind the Grand-Place is one of Brussels' most loved five-star hotels with staff and service that rival the Four Seasons. It's also a Tintin lover's dream with three new Tintin-themed deluxe rooms (one complete with its own rocket to the moon) and one deluxe Tintin suite that even has an electronic version of Marlinspike Hall's butler answering the room phone (rooms start at €319, the suite is tagged at €1,150 per night).

If you don't snag a specialty Tintin room, you'll still see the intrepid reporter poking around. Standard rooms are fitted out with Tintin and Snowy figurines in shadowboxes on the bathroom walls. To celebrate the new Spielberg film (the director had his press conference here during the world premiere) the Amigo is offering specialty Tintin package. The family package (€293 per night in a classic room) offers kids' rooms free, a 50% discount on food for children under twelve, admission to the Hergé Museum for the whole family, a Snowy plush doll, a Tintin walking map and interactive Tintin games and movies on PSP and Wii for each family room.

Details: www.hotelamigo.com
 
Note: Gretchen Kelly visited Brussels with the help of Visit Flanders (www.visitflanders.us), the tourist office for Flanders, Belgium.

Photo Caption: Interior of the Amigo Hotel in Brussels.