Timothé Van Kalck and Océane Cholet are a couple of 27-year-olds who have embarked on a new entrepreneurial journey, trading the urbanity of Reims and green pastures of Eastern France to the quiet village of seaside Quinéville (Manche).
They are the new owners of the World War II Museum along Utah Beach and fifteen minutes from Sainte-Mère-Eglise, replacing Jean-François Herry who retired.
It opened on April 1 and shows the new stage decorum from the couple, designed around the addition of new elements and keeping some of the museum’s strongest attributes.
The Connexion spoke with Mr Van Kalck and Ms Cholet weeks prior to the grand opening, in the heat of last-second changes and final touches.
“We are happy, excited by the opening and we cannot wait to show our projects to newcomers,” said Ms Cholet.
How did you come up with it all? What made you leave Reims for Quineville?
Timothé: I enjoy a blue horizon much more than a green one and I missed the sea after several years in Reims (Champagne).
It all started from a gentle conversation with the owner of the museum who told us he was looking for a new owner.
It worked out slowly, from one conversation with Océane to the next, working out how to work that out, three visits to the museum until we were able to buy the business assets last December.
What about you Ms Cholet? You had worked at the Musée du vin de Champagne et d’archéologie régionale in Epernay (Marne). Did it lower the fear when jumping from working to owning a museum?
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No, definitely no. I have a diploma as a tourist guide and was considering following oenology courses last year, not leaving Reims right away.
Over the course of our conversation, we thought that Timothé’s passion and knowledge about World War Two coupled with my experience working in a museum and as a tourist-guide could actually make things work.
One of the newest additions to the museum is an Adler Trumpf Junior from 1936 in Falaise pocket. How did you find it Mr Van Kalck?
I have been a World War Two collector ever since my grandmother gave me my great-great grandfather’s collection when I was 8.
I was starting to grow an interest in History. Over the years, I wandered around brocantes in small villages. The objects slowly became bigger and bigger.
It started with helmets, pieces of equipment, war uniforms and daily accessories. It eventually expanded to vehicles.
I have not found the car, per say. I bought it at an auction. It must have been driven in the Orne department until the 80s before it was left abandoned. It was missing many pieces. I rebuilt it from almost scratch, buying and shipping new pieces from all around Europe.
I read it still bears several impacts from bullets. How did you juggle the necessity of functionality and the duty of remembrance?
I wanted it to look the closest to when it left the factory but with a military configuration considering it had been requisitioned by the German military.
There were two imprints of bullets both onto the left wheel arch, one outside and another inside that bent the bodywork inwards.
I left the first hole but plugged the other from the exterior. I tried to both preserve History and turned it into a functional vehicle.
I bought the car when I was 23 and my main question was whether I would make savings on pieces to have a car drivable for around 10 kilometres every year or a viable vehicle that would require a more complete renovation.
I went with the latter.And here it is now, stationing in a museum for good (laughs).
Timothé Van Kalck and Océane Cholet
What new things did you bring to the museum?
Océane: A lot about how the collection is presented. Mr Herry was known for his own touch where the final parcours was decorated with one-sixth-scale homemade maquettes, a hobby of his.
This space now hosts temporary expositions. The current one is about the Olympic Games of Berlin in 1936 and how sports was used as a weapon, a theme that has almost never been explored.
This exposition is shouldered by both Paris Olympics and D-Day 80th anniversary in 2024’s cultural programs.
We kept the most emblematic aspect of the museum, a reproduction of a typical cobblestoned-street with shops and mannequins living under the Occupation (1940-1944).
The trail is immersive with new sound elements and small decorum modifications. We have created a facade that we hope to sprawl over the years.
What aspect of World War Two would you like to show to visitors?
Océane: Daily life away from fights and battles. What the museum shows is the logistic and human logistics, the resting times, the wanderings around in vehicles.
There is the Adler but there are other - bigger - vehicles displayed. The museum shows life from the German occupier and French civilians’ perspective as well as several aspects surrounding D-Day.
In 2016, ‘Le Mémorial de la liberté retrouvée’ was changed to the “World War II Museum” when it was sold to Mr Herry. Why did you keep the name?
Timothé: First because it is a unique museum that does not explore one particular aspect of World War Two but takes a more global aspect about what happened in France during the Occupation and the Libération periods.
The name is explicit enough to let an international audience understand what it is about. It represents 30% of our visitors, mostly British people. It is a commercial strategy, with no negative connotation.
Specifically, how do you judge the duty of remembrance from people of Commonwealth countries who often travel sometimes several thousand kilometres?
Timothé: I served and participated in operations for the French army, so I share a lot of the values of the French military and its patriotism. Remembrance is something that French people have lost over time.
There is pride among Americans when someone has joined or has been part of the Army. They keep family objects like their most precious.
How many times have I been to brocantes and seen people selling away military medals and objects from their grandfather?
A uniform or a helmet, why not. But a board of medals with a name on it? I tell people off every time I see it. I am not joking.
If it is about getting €20 out of it, avoid one Mcdonald’s for a month. French people are not as attached to France’s military history than other countries. But the battles happened on our land which gives a different colour to how we remember World War Two.
To the exception of British people and the Blitz, other English-speaking fighters came to France while their countries were spared. The trauma is so deep in France that people tend to forget and erase all of the war’s horrors. But it should not be forgotten.
The museum opens on March 31, 2025 every day from 10:00 to 18:00. More information at www.wwii-museum.com
