Limoges, porcelain and gastronomy

Look up as you walk around Limoges !  In Limoges, china can be seen on the front of opulent-looking houses and fountains. Don’t miss the Boulevard Louis Blanc, an avenue of shops selling china and enamel in every shape and form from unusual, classic pieces to the latest enamel creations. A definite invitation to shop !
The Art and History Town of Limoges has a unique collection of 12,000 pieces of porcelain displayed at the Musée National Adrien Dubouché. The Four des Casseaux, a listed pottery kiln, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, and its fine collection of Limousin enamel through the ages, Impressionist paintings and Gallo-Roman objects are also absolute musts to see. Stroll around the historic districts of the town to discover its treasures : La Cité around the cathedral, with its gardens sloping down to the River Vienne, and the Boucherie district, once home to the butchers of Limoges, whose streets still feature the old shops and the Chapel of Saint Aurélien.

Limoges is also an important place for food connoisseurs : Limousin beef, ‘Cul Noir’ pork, apples, chestnuts and grass-fed lamb inspire chefs and home cooks. Every year in October, the Rue de la Boucherie hosts the ‘Frairie des Petits Ventres’, a food festival which highlights tripe, black pudding and other offal delights.
The Office de Tourisme offers many tours with qualified guides – dramatic and musical tours, themed walks on a variety of themes like underground passages (perfect during a heat wave or cold spell !) mansions, the cathedral. Workshops for children where they can make lovely souvenirs of mosaic work, pottery etc. to take home. The little Tuck Tuck train takes visitors on a 50-minute tour of the town, available in 7 languages. 
The banks of the Vienne at Limoges
The districts alongside the River Vienne below the cathedral have some lovely walks between the Pont Saint Etienne and Pont Saint Martial bridges via the historic port of Naveix. This boat-free harbour was the terminus for wood which was floated downstream from the mountains to power the porcelain kilns. In the evening, people wander around the town from the popular Place Denis Dussoubs with its cinemas and large pavement cafés to the Place Haute Cité with its bars offering live entertainment, via the theme bars of Rue Charles Michels and Cours Jourdan. It is in the evening that it becomes obvious that Limoges is a student town !
Entre nous : Laurence Lavollee lives and works in Limoges where she studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art. She uses porcelain in a daring and very sculptural way. Her series of corsets and busts are perfect illustrations of her innovative, excellent skills, using porcelain in the worlds of fashion and decoration.
Discover Haute-Vienne with Gites de France Haute-Vienne : Monts de Blond and its mythical stones, Lac de Vassivière, Jardin de l'Evêché de Limoges, Mont Gargan, Lac de Saint Pardoux.