Angoulême – a city in pictures
Our last visit to Angoulême was rather restricted due to the ramparts race, so we decided to go again and have a closer look at the town itself, without the danger of getting creamed by a vintage racing car.
Apart from the ramparts race, Angoulême is famous for being the cartoon capital of the world, with its long-standing annual cartoon festival and its comic strip/cartoon murals which are dotted throughout the city. The French, both children and adults alike, are just crazy for comic books, and every French bookshop and supermarket offers shelf after shelf of ‘BDs’ or bandes dessinées. When the Oldies still lived in France, the BD section of the supermarket served as a handy crèche for Junior. They just parked him there when they arrived and picked him up after they’d paid for the groceries. Junior is a natural speed reader, so he’d often have read an Asterix, Tintin or Titeuf adventure from cover to cover by the time the Oldies had finished the shopping. It saved them a fortune!
Talking about Tintin: although his creator, Hergé (Georges Rémi) was Belgian, his bust has a place of honour in the main pedestrian area in the centre of Angoulême.
This is my favourite mural of all. No prizes for guessing why!
I am not too sure how I feel about Angoulême as a town itself. On the one hand, it has a number of beautiful old buildings. The town hall, the cathedral, the Palais de Justice, the theatre and some wonderful old villas, shops and cafés are all quite typical of the French grandeur you come to expect. There are also some really cool modern buildings here. I particularly like the new library, for example. But overall, the town left me with a sad impression. It has most certainly seen better days. The number of dilapidated and derelict buildings is shocking. What a terrible pity!
Do not adjust your screens. This a colour photo, not a black and white one. The lack of colour here, as in many towns and villages in this part of France, is quite normal. Sadly, so is the decay.
Angoulême – a city of cars, cartoons and contrasts.
