Waterloo visit

 In May of this year I visited Brussels for 9 days and that one of those day should be spent at Waterloo. As the cheapest tour I could find cost 1,400 euros I  decided to get myself there!

A trip from Brussels Central railway station to Braine-l'Alleud station took about 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes to walk to the Waterloo museum.

I initially went to the museum, then through the panorama building, lunch then up the Lion mound then walked to Hougoumont farm which takes about 20 minutes.

The Approach March

Poor Blucher just gets a little avenue named after him. When he saved the day!

The Lion Mound and panorama building to the left.

Map of the battlefield and attractions.  See on the left...no Blucher! Just Nappy & Wello.

The Museum Diorama

I am of course a sucker for a museum diorama with toy soldiers. This one is with 1/72nd scale soldiers.

The Prussians are stuck on a small side table.

Prussians ... different view point

The main event

The Allies.  Wellington top right

Nivelles road

Hougoumont Farm

Allies to left and foreground, French to the right

French

Le Belle Alliance Farm, apparently Napoleon needed to stay close to a toilet.

Many a wargamer would have this Airfix building in their collection. I know I have

And again because I like it

French getting themselves sorted.

The Uniform Gallery

French

British.... guess who thought "this will be really useful when I paint my British army later this year" and then promptly forgot about it 🤔🤔😢🤣

French

Scots and English

More French?

Napoleon nodding off. I know how some of these meetings can go on and on, but I always tried to stay professional 😁

Other displays

A useful description of the different formations

Toy soldiers

Amusing

More toy soldiers plus a painting of the Prince of Orange being heroic and getting wounded unlike those slackers; Napoleon, Wellington & Blucher who hid well back out of harms way 😁

Reenactment photos 

Panorama building

For those that have not heard of them before: From Wikipedia

Circular Panoramas (Rotundas): Patented in 1787 by Irish painter Robert Barker, these were massive 360-degree paintings displayed inside cylindrical buildings (rotundas) with a central viewing platform. Overhead natural skylights and hidden foreground platforms created the illusion that the spectator stood inside a real, distant landscape. Barker opened his famous brick rotunda in Leicester Square, London, in 1793

Lunch

A Wellington Burger and a cheeky French wine 😁

The Lions Mound

Lots of steps and view from the bottom

Views from the top

Handy reference

On the road to Hougoumont Farm

Useful information boards

Still fixing the road from 1815

Whose been driving over the battlefield!

Once I thought my battlefields were to flat and then I saw this.

Hougoumont Farm

The farm is also a museum that details all the fighting that occurred around the farm. 

Well sorry that is so long. I should have made it into a few posts. 

It was a tiring day once I had walked back to the railway station and I was very glad to get a seat on the train! I hope it has been interesting. It is well worth a visit if you are able to get there.