"Angouleme" a Angoulême Travel Page by barryg23

I worked in Angoulême, as a barman in a local Irish pub, during the summer of 1998. Finding vacation work in France is no easy task, and after sending letters to all the Irish pubs in Paris and failing to get past Disneyland Paris's interviews (the guy recruiting only liked cute Irish girls - that ruled me out!) I decided that to find work I'd have to resort to the 'it's not what you know it's who you know' routine.

So I asked my neighbour (who travelled and bought wine in France) if he knew of any employment opportunities. Lo and behold, he mentioned an Irish pub in Angoulême and I thought - 'Why not?'. Not knowing how to spell or pronounce Angoulême, or even where it was exactly, I began packing my bags......

Actually I first had a phone interview with the pub owner - this was half in broken French (mine) and half in broken English (his), and after getting a good response to "Pouvez-vois me dire la salerie", I was on my way....

I remember feeling very adventurous (and a little nervous) at Dublin airport. I had never worked abroad before, and wasn't sure what I was letting myself in for. I had done reasonably well in French at school but that had been two years previously. Tthere was no turning back now though.

I sat beside a French lady on the plane and she told me a bit about Angouleme and the surrounding Charente region. She also recommended taking a bus from CDG to Gare Montparnasse. This I did, but we got delayed in Paris traffic and I almost ended up missing TGV connection. I finally arrived in Angouleme at 6 in the evening and I was met at the station by the girlfriend of the pub owner.

At first I coulden't understand a word she was saying and all I could do was nod and say 'Oui'. Hopefully, she was asking me yes/no type questions. Things got better when we arrived at the pub. I had a glass of Kilkenny and felt like I had never left home.

Angoulême is the capital of the Charente region of Frace. It's situated about 300 miles southwest of Paris, and 75 miles northeast of Bordeaux. The fortified town is on a hill overlooking the juncture of the Anguienne and Charente rivers below. The lower town’s character differs greatly from that of the upper town.