Limoges

Whilst planning our trip we realised we would be passing Limoges on our way home from the Périgord, and it was an opportunity we felt we couldn’t miss. One of the things that appealed to us is that we’ve been looking for some new plates for the chambre d’hôte, and haven’t seen anything we like. So we booked a couple of nights in the city, which by all accounts is quite beautiful. So when we arrived, before heading to our hotel, our first stop was to visit some of the porcelain shops.

They really do have some gorgeous porcelain, but for my dinner plates I like a very traditional white plate, which is fortunate, because you could easily spend a small fortune here. We soon found some that we both liked and made our purchase. Job done, we drove into the city proper.

Brian had booked us a room in the centre of Limoges, which was great, as we could easily walk to all the places we wanted to visit. Limoges really is a beautiful city, old buildings mixed with new, boutiques mixed with department stores, and bistros, cafés and tea rooms dotted all over the place.

We popped out to explore, and after a bit of shopping, we headed to the market for some lunch.

It’s a lovely old cast iron structure, with fish stalls, cheese stalls and all sorts, but they also had great little places to buy drinks and food to eat at the communal tables.

After lunch we wanted to visit the musée des beaux arts, but first we decided to take a look at the cathedral, which is just next door. Slightly odd from the outside, it was very welcoming and bright inside, mostly as some of the stained glass was missing, and had been replaced with just clear glass panes. That said, what they did have was really beautiful. It was also a great place to cool down.

We had a fun time exploring the city so far, and now on to the musée des beaux arts.