Musée Guerre et Paix — Attraction in Rethel

The museum is modern and has a good feel about it. Displays are informative, but there's maybe too much of an emphasis on the various uniforms through the ages - unless, of course, that's where your interest lies. There's also actually very little on 'peace' until you get to the end and I don't remember there being any mention of the situation in Ukraine. We visited the museum towards the end of the morning and had anticipated having lunch in the cafe. At the entrance to the cafe, there was an an A frame chalk board stating that service was between 12 and 2, so when it got to 1.15pm and we could smell, what seemed like, soup wafting around the museum, we decided to pause for food and headed for the cafe, which was deserted. After a while, a lovely lady came along and asked if we wanted hot food and we said 'yes', but she said she wasn't sure if we could get any. She headed to the other side of the museum and, after some time, came back to tell us that 'he can't do it' but we could have hot drinks and the packaged snacks. Okay, at least we were going to get drinks, but, no, wait, no cafe au lait or hot chocolate because they didn't have any milk!!!! Admittedly we could have had black coffee or green tea, but the whole situation just seemed crazy. We beat a hasty retreat, finished the tour of the museum and headed into Rethel for food. Okay, I probably put far too much emphasis on the food situation, but when you're hungry and fully expect to get food, it can really tarnish your view of the world and everything in it!! On a positive note, the staff...

Excellent museum, modern layout with clear signs and plenty of exposition. Chronological exposition of all the pre, ante and post war periods of the Franco-prussian war, the great war and World War 2, making it very easy to follow and see the connections between these major conflicts.

A truly stunning collection of military uniform that is exceptional and impressive, with original pieces from all three wars involving all belligerents. Secondary collections of various war paraphernalia, including artillery, vehicles, guns, and bayonets from all periods, but also items of communication and other support roles.

All in all an extremely impressive museum for such an out of the way place, wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommend.

We spent about...

Ç'est un musée magnifique! They have a great collection of Napoleonic (III), Bismarck-era (Franco-Prussian war), WWI and WWII uniforms, artifacts and weapons. It is a nice, compact and very educational and illustrative museum with explanations about some important battles, and a good selection of the above eras' infantry weapons and some field armament (guns, vehicles and even a Sherman tank). The staff are very sweet and the entrance fee is quite reasonable. Conveniently located in the French Ardennes region for people going north-south between the Netherlands and France and east-west from Germany and Luxembourg to France, obviously very close to most Belgian cities and reasonably close to Paris. I highly...