Guide to Limoges

Awarded Creative City status by UNESCO, Limoges offers far more than just porcelain. In her guide to Limoges, Gillian Thornton heads to the heart of the Limousin.

One railway station tends to look pretty much like another, easily forgettable and purely functional, but you just have to linger and look around when you pass through Limoges-Bénédictins.

Built between 1924 and 1929, this gloriously over-the-top mix of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Neoclassical styles is one of Europe’s most beautiful stations, the perfect entry point to a ‘Creative City’ listed by UNESCO for its expertise not just in porcelain, but in enamel and stained glass too, collectively known as the arts of fire.

Guide to Limoges

I arrive in Limoges by train from Poitiers on a journey through the northern part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. If hunger beckons, grab a bite at Léo Léa Bénédictins, an upbeat eaterie that raises the bar in railway restaurants. Then stop out front to admire the lighthouse-style tower before heading into town.

The Tourist Office on Place Wilson is a good place to start, not only to plan your itinerary but also for the tempting array of local crafts and products on sale. Turn one way to the river Vienne and the Cité district, religious hub of the city for centuries; the opposite direction for the larger Château district or Upper Town, traditionally the administrative quarter.

*Bishop’s Garden and the Fine Arts Museum © Gillian Thornton*

I head first to the Cité, dominated by Saint-Etienne Cathedral. Begun in the 13^th century on the site of a Romanesque church, it took 600 years to complete and is home to a rare black enamel Virgin and some glorious stained glass. Outside, the extensive Bishops’ Gardens are a delight with formal flowerbeds and strategic benches spread over hilltop terraces with views over the Vienne.

The nearby ecclesiastical palace is now home to Limoges’ Museum of Fine Arts with a local history collection spanning Roman Augustoritum to the present day; paintings and sculpture from religious subjects to Renoir; and, my favourite, exquisite enamelwork in jewel colours and intricate designs. Just a passing nod to porcelain, but Limoges’ world-famous china has a museum all of its own, of which more later.

Close to the cathedral, Rue Haute-Cité is fringed with an eclectic mix of restaurants and half-timbered houses. For something a bit special, try La Cuisine du Cloitre, a gastronomic restaurant and B&B in a former convent. At lunchtime, enjoy a simple formule, and in the evening, a ‘surprise’ tasting menu from chef Guy Queroix. Love a flea market or brocante? Then visit on the second Sunday of each month for Les Puces de la Cité.

Turn your back on the Cité, cross over Boulevard Louis Blanc, and you enter the historic Chateau District or Ville Haute, although the castle no longer exists. Many of the dilapidated half-timbered houses here were demolished in the early 20^th century and the town rebuilt in Art Deco style.

Look above the tempting shop fronts for classic period style and do not miss the Pavillon de Verdurier on Place Saint-Pierre, a former cold store from the 1920s. Entirely covered with glazed ceramic tiles in shades of green and blue, this unique building was designed by Roger Gonthier, architect of Bénédictins station, and is now an exhibition centre.

Pockets of the old town still exist. Tucked out of sight between two Art Deco streets, I find the Cour du Temple, a courtyard surrounded by arcades and half-timbered properties from the 17^th century. And I love the village atmosphere of the Boucherie quarter, the old meat traders’ district that still contains the tiny chapel of Saint Aurélian, saved by the influential local butchers during the Revolution. Visit on the third Friday in October for the Petit Ventre food festival, revived in the 1970s to thwart the demolition of this historic area.

But you can eat well all year round at Les Petits Ventres restaurant which serves great steaks and other dishes in traditional surroundings. There is food temptation too at the nearby Halles Centrales in Place de la Motte, where food stalls are interspersed by snack outlets and wine bars. A great spot to socialise on Sunday mornings.

Before I discover Limoges’ famous porcelain industry, I visit the city’s latest art venue, FRAC-Artothèque Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Housed in an imaginatively converted print works, FRAC is a showcase for contemporary art across all kinds of creative media, with the added bonus of free entry and a stylish street-front café. Definitely one to add to any arts tour.

*Bernadaud factory tour © Gillian Thornton*

And so to that famous porcelain. In 1768, a seam of kaolin – the basic raw material for porcelain – was discovered outside the city. Chinese porcelain was already highly prized for its hardness, translucence and whiteness but soon, with abundant supplies of both wood and water on the doorstep, Limoges was well and truly on the fine arts map. And whatever your level of interest, there is something to educate and entertain at the city’s two must-see porcelain attractions.

Five generations of the Bernadaud family have been at the forefront of high-quality porcelain since 1863, producing tableware, decorative objects and jewellery. Guided tours of their historic factory just outside the city centre offer a close-up introduction to the manufacturing process, which now takes place 20km away at Oradour-sur-Glane, a name sadly famous as a martyr village after a massacre by SS troops in 1944.

Here in Limoges, visitors learn about production techniques from making moulds and mixing paste through first and second firings to various methods of decoration. I particularly loved the insight into prestige tableware commissions for clients such as the Chateau of Chenonceau, Air France Premier, the Plaza-Athénée in Paris, a limited-edition lipstick case for Dior, and a perfume bottle for Guerlain. At the end of the tour, the factory shop shelves offer an open invitation to enhance your own home at a discount.

Just beyond the Haute Ville, the Adrien Dubouché National Porcelain Museum holds the world’s largest collection of porcelain from Antiquity to the present day. Founded in 1845 by the Prefect of Haute-Vienne, the museum takes its name from the man who took over as Director in 1865 and worked tirelessly to enlarge and promote the collection.

On Dubouché’s death in 1881, the collection was nationalised and the current building purpose-built, opening in 1900. I fell in love first with the exterior, embellished with elegant windows and decorated façade, and then again inside with the mosaic floors, stained glass windows and wrought iron grills, the perfect backdrop to this comprehensive collection.

Touch screens provide extra insights in English and whatever your taste in home décor, you will find inspiration here. My own tableware is white, so I gaze in awe at a line of 16 plates revealing the different stages of decorating a bespoke blue-and-gold service for King Hassan II of Morocco.

Then, suitably inspired, I return to the Haute Ville to browse the boutiques, armed with a credit card and the free Tourist Office map highlighting more than 30 independent retailers. An essential activity in this creative and charming city.

Gillian travelled to Limoges by train (3.5 hours from Paris) and flew back to London-Stansted with Ryanair after staying at the Hotel Ibis Limoges Centre. Or take a Flixbus service into Bénédictins bus station. A Limoges City Pass for 1, 2 or 3 days gives free entry to museums, porcelain and leisure sites.

By Gillian Thornton, one of the UK’s leading travel writers and a regular writer for The Good Life France Magazine and website.