Malbrouck Castle — Attraction in Thionville

Went there for FESTIVAL BÊTES ET SORCIÈRES. Rainy and cold weather is expected at the end of October, and organization should take that into account, but it did not seem to be the case. They were selling only fast food, and the only benches available to eat were all under the rain, and even those under umbrellas were wet, like if the umbrellas had been opened well after the rain started. So most of the people ended up standing or seating on the floor. Then we had to queue for almost 45 minutes in the cold, for a 5 minutes performance, which I can expect to do in Disneyland Paris but seemed a little bit over the top for me here. In my opinion, if a lot of people is expected (and there were loooong queues) you either set up more activities, or you limit the number of attendants or increase the number of hours, because it's virtually impossible to visit all activities in the 3 and a half hours allowed from opening to the closing spectacle when you have to queue for so long, specially if you need to grab a bite. For us the experience was not enjoyable at all, unfortunately, even though I think that the castle looks very nice. Would recommend to visit it when there is no other event...

Receptionist was welcoming and the castle is beautiful on the outside.

However, (and here I totally agree with what a previous reviewer has written) once inside there is not much to admire apart from the "Tintin Journal" exhibition in practically every room. I just don't understand the relevance it has with the castle apart from a beautiful setting for an exhibition.

Personally I would have really appreciated more information on the castle's history and its reconstruction work supported by photos, documents and models.

All in all I was somewhat disappointed but on the positive side I am delighted that I had not driven too far...

It is not that usual to visit a so well restored castle of middle-age. It was exceptionally good for us as the place was hosting a temporary exhibit of Hergé with lots of draft pages of Tintin, which were worth discovering. I would likely not have ranked the location this high without the exhibit but there are other shows over the year, which may animate the castle with other content. The visit shows how the ruins have been overhauled using old technics of...