MGB

Finalizing our trip next month and find we will driving through Limoges. Is there anything of particular interest? Is there a particular area for shopping for porcelain? Are the prices any better? Could not find any web site talking about shops in the area.
Thanks for any help.
Mary Ann

StCirq

Limoges is a city of phenomenal nondescript proportions. There is no reason to go there except to try to get bargains on porceleine, which in fact can often be gotten at better prices elsewhere. If you go, you won't be able to miss the porceleine factories - they are everywhere, and the signs are ubiquitous.

sheila

I've got a very nice truffle slicer someone bought for me in Limoges, the year of the Black Death in the Dordogne holiday.

They bought me a truffle slicer becuase there was nothing else meorable about the place.

MGB

Thanks for your help. I had figured if it did not have a web site or could not find anything on fodors it must not be notable. However, my sister-in-law and good friend did not want to miss an opportunity if there was something to see or shop. This way we can spend our time better elsewhere.
Merci beaucoup!

Gretchen

But about 30 minutes away from Limoges is Oradour sur Glane, the scene of a horrific massacre during WWII. The village is preserved exactly as it was on that day--rusting cars, bicycles--a true time capsule, and very poignant.

MGB

Thanks Gretchen, that is on our itinerary, that is why we were going to be near Limoges on our way to Chenonceaux. We had heard it was a must see and appreciate the confirmation.

Michael

I explored Limoges a little more this year. It is better than its reputation. Two museums should be visited: the procelain museum and the municipal museum in the former bishop's palace which contains a fine collection of enamels. In addition, the cathedral is worth a visit and the grounds behind the cathedral and cascadin toward the river have been turned into a botanical garden. At the end of the grounds, down toward the river, there is an old monk's refectory that has been turned into a showplace for demonstration projects by the Compagnons de France--basically trade journeymen in the old sense of the word. There are two old sections to the city, around the cathedral and near the procelain museum. The latter section contains the rue des bouchers with a butcher museum which is worth a walk through to give an idea of what a butcher's household looked like in the 19th century. As for procelain, most of the factory outlets are scattered outside town, most of them on the road to Périgueux. We discovered that St Yrieix, the original location of kaolin, has very good stores in a less hectic atmosphere.