ESSCA

ESSCA set every international student up with a bank account at Société Générale, in rue d'Alsace. Unfortunately there was only two SocGén auto-teller machines in all Angers that would accept the bank card for cash withdrawals. French banks such as SocGen are fraught with niggly fees which are over the top, be prepared. Save by withdrawing large lumps of cash from your home bank (through Cirrus/Maestro) at the ATMs. Definitely apply for a visa longer than 6 months and apply for the 'Carte de Sejour'. This is essentially residency status, and entitles you to receive rent subsidy from the government through the Société Sociale (the "CAF"). But expect bureaucratic bungling and maybe even an unexplained rejection of your application. Again, ESSCA will help you do this. You should definitely go to the city hall of Angers and apply in person for a 'Carte Partinaire' which will entitle you to half-price bus tickets, cinema tickets, etc; a good saving. Anf get the SNCF '12-25' railcard for cut-price train tickets.

ESSCA have a very good optional French course. The teaching was outstanding. For those who wish to intensify their language learning, there is free French classes conducted by the Angers city hall, plus more French classes to do at the Université d'Angers. I found that the French class at ESSCA was quite sufficient. As a town to live in and practice the language Angers is quite okay.

The international office staff at ESSCA will be forever in your debt. They work quite hard so expect them to maybe take a little while to get back to you in some cases!

Angers is not really a town with an amazing nightlife. Angers does have many pubs and cafes, but they are often small and pokey establishments which each feed off a very tiny number of regular customers. Most internationals during Jan-May 2002 hung out at either the James Joyce pub, the Dupon bar, or sometimes at the Sunset bar or L'Okapi. But I hardly had time for study because all the international students bonded together so well. All of us had turns in hosting house parties which were definitely the highlight of ESSCA's social life. It made for a very unique experience. Us internationals arranged a pub crawl though Angers, the concept of which seemed to be either incomprehensible or not good for business by the proprietors of some of the various small pubs (those familiar with students were more accommodating). A few reasonable dance clubs and band venues exist, but they are mostly out of town, without a car they can be hard to get to. One dance club, Le Metro, provides a free bus service from downtown Angers. During afternoons of good weather the cafes in Place du Railliement were quite relaxing to sit in for a chat and a chill out (Au Bureau or Le Theatre cafe). Beware Sundays in Angers, it can be very boring since everything is pretty much closed. The cinema "Les 400 Coups" screens many English language and foreign films in original version (with French subtitles). ESSCA's own BDE (student body) and AIESEC organise many nights out, in particular a few trips to Paris to go nightclubbing, and a few big bar nights in La Kaz (ESSCA's student bar), all of which the internationals were a big presence. I rate the social experience so high only because the internationals during my semester made such a good group and more than made up for any lack of interesting nightlife.

The accommodation through ESSCA was still going through teething issues in 2002, still learning how best to manage it. They had never before accepted so many international exchange students into ESSCA in one go. ESSCA manages apartments and liaises with all the landlords on the students' behalf. The cost of 305 euros (plus 45 for utilities) seemed okay value for some apartments, but poor value for others. Possibly this was because the apartments were very different, and the different rents 'averaged' by ESSCA for ease of admin. The type of apartment you get is pretty much down to luck. Some people were extremely lucky (those in the pedestrian zones of the centre of town). Others found themselves on dark streets on the edge of the main part of town, or in dirty and/or poorly maintained buildings. ESSCA will help in cases of problems with the apartment (plumbing, heating, electrical, etc) but the response times could be slow (depending on what's wrong). Getting accommodation in Angers without the help of the school can be fraught with hassles, it's hard work if your French isn't good. The local students have a hard time finding decent accomodation so, as an exchange student, it's best to let ESSCA help you.