Limoges Weekend Breaks
Weekend Breaks to Limoges
Planning a short break to Limoges? Check out Travel Library's recommended Top 10 Things To Do in Limoges. It's a perfect companion for weekend city breaks to Limoges. Once you've been you can add your own tips and suggestions to help other visitors.
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Top 10 Things in Limoges on a Short Break
Cathedral St Ettienne
Construction started in 1273 and was done piece by piece over time. Striking feature is the 16th century façade built in full Flamboyant etyle with elongated arches, cluster of pinnacles and deliberate tracery in the window and gallery. All in all, it took 600 years to complete.
Musse Municipal de l'Eveche
This gallery showcases what the town is best at doing - making enamelware. It is located in the Old Bishops Palace which itself is a historical piece having being built in the 19th century.
The show pieces date from the 12 century and include collections of Egyptian art, Roman artifacts, masonry and sarcophagi. The museum has a section devoted to how Limoges looked during the Roman era.
Musse National Adrien Dubouche
Limoges claim to fame is that of being a centre of fine and distinct porcelain and this museum plays up to that stature. Lovers of porcelain will love this museum which has one of France's most prestigious ceramic collections. The 12 000 pieces in this museum make it the largest collection of this nature in Europe.
There is much to learn about the history of the subject as well from the early Oriental pieces to that which you get today like Wedgwood.
Oradour sur Glance
Some 25 km west of Limoges is this village that stands just as the Nazi soldiers left it in 1944 when they went on a rampage and killed all the inhabitants. The place has eerie feeling when you see the rusted cars, train wires dangling about and the people's homes left just as they were some 60 odd years ago. These ruins have been left as a shrine in remembrance of the community.
A museum in the village describes the events that led to the massacre. A total 642 people including children, died. After much hesitation and debate, a new village, which has a population of about 2 000, was built next to the obliterated one.
Le Pavillon de la Porcelain
This is the place in Limoges where you can actually see the artistry that goes into making porcelain making. At their premises 3 km from the town centre, the company shows visitors the art of it all on a giant video screen. The company has been exporting porcelain to the United States and elsewhere since 1842 and you can see some of the master pieces that it has produced since then. in a museum.
Products are on sale at factory prices which is an incentive to go there. Buses run regularly from town, the Hotel Ville to be specific, and drop you almost right at the door of this venue.
Eveche Botanical Garden
Everyone needs a place to just sit, relax and watch the world go by and in Limoges, this is it. It is on the banks of the Vienne and there is also a botanical museum on the premises which give you explanations of each plant.
Maison Traditionelle de la Boucherie
Butchers once played an important role in Limoges and in particular during the Middle Ages. Their legacy lives and in one particular section of town where with its narrow streets and Medieval houses, the town's butchers lived and plied their trade from the 10th century. Now, streets are no longer exclusively for butchers but this background has given the town something unique, a fascination with butchers.
You can enter into the inner circles of what it was like as a butcher by visiting this museum on 36 rue de la Boucherie where the guides will among other things take you to a butcher's house. The butcher's guild still has a strong influence in the town and there is an annual festival dedicated to the eating of meat. A chapel in the town, St Aurelien, belongs to the guild and has a 14 century cross outside.
Fraire des Petits Ventres
This is an annual street banquet where the townsfolk gorge themselves with meat. It inevitable that the town to came up with such a festival given that butchers once played a dominant role in the life of the town. From centuries ago, butchers took it upon themselves to somehow influence the lives of the community.
In English, the festival is translated as "the festival of small stomachs." But you don't have to have a small stomach to enjoy the feast. The whole communtiy joins in sampling meat dishes cooked in all the ways that only the French know how.
Atecher Mosiaque
This is a small shop offering delicately designed mosaics that are done by hand on the premises. The works include clocks, jewelry boxes, and mirrors. Since each is individually deigned and made, you are getting a very exclusive product.
Exhibition of China and Enamel
This is an annual international event in July/August held at various venues in the town to show off what is its major industry, enamelware.
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