Snippet of the week: Comic Strip Museum, Angoulême

Our regular feature on a place Guild members have found on their travels. Gillian Thornton finds homage to the comic strip in France.

Nestled deep in the Poitou-Charentes region of western France, Angoulême has a long association with the paper industry and, in particular, with the comic strip. Today it’s a town that lives and breathes comic strip heroes - even the street names are contained inside speech bubbles.

Already renowned for its annual festival, Angoulême opened its extensive new Comic Strip Museum in June – La Musee de la Bande Dessinée. Housed in an old wine warehouse beside the Charente river, the museum covers the history of the art form, design techniques and esthetics, before finishing up in the latest temporary exhibition.

Aimed squarely at enthusiasts – young and old - it costs just €4 for adults, plus €3 for temporary exhibitions, but leave plenty of euros for the vast selection of books and DVDs in the museum shop.

And don’t miss the opportunity to walk – or drive – around town to see more than 20 walls painted with colourful scenes in comic strip style, some dramatic, others humorous, but all ingenious. (www.angouleme-tourisme.com)