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Explore France Holiday Guides Charente guide 2008-2009 Angoulême
| Angoulême |
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| Tuesday, 18 March 2008 | |
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Festival venue for
comic strips, rock and
world music, vintage
cars, toys and games…
the capital of the
Charente has a buzzing
cultural calendar.
Easy to access, Angoulême has air and train links to the major international capitals: Paris is a mere two hours away by the TGV high-speed train.
Update 29.4.8 :
Thanks to John Bradford for this information. The city has a long association with paper-making and printing and is the largest industrial centre between Poitiers and Bordeaux today. But along the top of the ramparts, its elegant old quarters are also a hotspot for nightlife and eating out. The ancient monuments are magnificently illuminated at night.  Throughout the year, a busy cultural programme, with some well-established annual festivals, draws visitors from France and beyond. At the end of January, is the Comic Strip Festival (Festival international de la bande dessinée). This is Angoulême’s emblematic event, attracting more than 200,000 BD fans (BD=bandes dessinées – strip cartoons) of all ages each year, who come to see their strip cartoon heroes come alive on the drawing board, and meet their famous creators who come from all five continents for four days of art contests, films, signings, interactive events, prize-givings: find out all about it on www.bdangouleme.com.  At the end of May-early June comes the Festival des Musiques Métisses, now a national reference for African, fusion and world music, staging new finds and major stars (Johnny Clegg, Salif Keita...). The new open-air rock festival Garden Nef party started last year is being repeated this year in July. Held in the third weekend in September, the Circuit des Remparts is the only vintage car rally held inside a French town. Enthusiasts refer to it as “Monaco without the sea’’.  In October comes the classical piano festival, Piano en Valois. Two more festivals round off the year: Ludoland, based around children, with the latest in toys and games, and the Gastronomades, for gourmet produce, cookery books and media from all over the world. ;
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</script> "Image") There are ongoing exhibitions at the strip cartoon museum (CNBDI), the Musée des Beaux-Arts (fine arts), Musée du Papier and Musée de la Résistance (World War II). The ‘Maison pas comme les autres’ is an interior design showroom featuring work by the region’s contemporary artists. As you wander around the historic upper town, you’ll see the magnificent façades of the Romanesque cathedral to Saint-Pierre and the Renaissance Hôtel Saint-Simon, the imposing castle with its 13th-century keep, now housing the Hôtel de Ville, and the ornamental 19th-century covered market, recently renovated, sited on the foundations of a 10thcentury castle, later a fortress (12th-century) and a prison (15thcentury), it was designed in 1855 by Édouard Warin on the lines of Les Halles in Paris.  In summer, the association ‘Via Patrimoine’ arranges guided cycling trips in the area on themes such as heritage and architecture. You can explore Gond-Pontouvre, Vindelle or Fléac and its fountains. A few kilometres away, the beautifully restored Château de Balzac c.1600, home of the famous Charentais writer Guez de Balzac, is open in season. Or why not go stargazing at the Château de l’Oisellerie (July-August)? The château also hosts exhibitions on local heritage. Cool off at the lake in Saint-Yrieix, or at Nautilis, a sailing/skating complex with Olympic pool, waves and open-air skating rink, or enjoy a boat trip down the river – there are even romantic evening trips.  |
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