French Comics Festival: Festival International de la bande dessinee

Something a little more recent than the 19th century for your enjoyment: the annual comic festival held in Angouleme, south and west of Paris. It’s actually an international festival of comics (or graphic novels). These are not the comics of childhood — one is over 700 pages long. The authors are not exclusively French – we have representation from Brits, the US, France and so on. There are some wonderful titles: De Gaulle a la plage (DeGaulle at the beach – I would love to see that), Bottomless Belly Button, Mon gras et moi (My fat and me?), and many others. If you are in Angouleme, check it out.