(Header image Le Musée de la bande dessinée ©Marie Midi Flickr)

Le Musée de la bande dessinée in Angoulême is a complete history of French and American comics, a unique collection in Europe.  The strips, boards and drawings are selected among 12,000 originals and are renewed every three months, to help conserve them. The works are displayed for four months and then kept in stock for four years, which means there are new displays three times per year!  Even though the displays are in French, you can download an English guide from their website.

Comic Book Festical

Every year, Angoulême hosts the International Comic Book Festival, the second largest in Europe.   The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning.  Running for 42 years, the festival’s most prestigious prize is the Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême – a life time achievement award given to a comic’s author.