Alternatively -

Quick way to generate all those obscure characters. In Excel. In the top left cell type.

=&#"&TEXT(ROW(),"0")&";"&" "&ROW()&"<BR>

hit return -

copy cell 1 - highlight cells 2 to 255 - paste (or hit return)

OR "drag/copy"
save as text file (give it an HTM extension or change file name later) and hey presto - e.g.
ã 227
ä 228
å 229
(Word has converted these to text equivalents)

Of course only numbers 34, 38, 60, 62 and 160 to 255 are not available from the keyboard and printing characters.
Now how can I get Word to spell "raison dêtre"?