Day 37: Limoges

October 2, 2023

We are still thinking about Oradour today, and hopefully this will be our last brush with tragic history for this trip. But for now we'll listen to Leonard Cohen, with "The Partisan". A good version is him singing this in France, but here is another one. The best is from the album (Songs From a Room - 1969).

Let's move on, to Limoges as it appeared to us today!

Heart

Comment

Link

Dodie using the tourist map of Limoges plus a "things to see in Limoges" website, set forth a circuit of 15 things to see. I was concerned about whether we could truly hobble around such a route, but then we did, for a change, have all day. The circuit was a good mix, of churches, medieval neighbourhoods, shopping streets, and of course the train station (should we suddenly want to leave town!). The main reason we had even come to Limoges was the famous porcelain pottery here, so of course that was a don't miss. We still did not have a sense of whether Limoges truly had a picturesque old town (with mandatory walking/ice cream street). But that would unfold as we spun through the circuit.

Our first thing was not even on the list, and we don't quite know what it is, but it was a domed building with unique architecture.

Our next thing was simply a door, but with a lion on it with a funny expression. "Should I take a photo of the lion?", I mused. "Scott would" was Dodie's contribution. So here he is. As it happens, several other lions popped up through the day, such as at Saint Michel des Lions church. Watch for them as this post rolls along.

This lion just thought of a funny, bittersweet memory.

Denis Dussoubs Square served as our entree to the city. This was actually where I snapped a shot yesterday, saying oh, now it's starting to look interesting. And yes, it is considered the entrance to the city on the Paris road. It is not really a square but circle. Today I shot the other side, just to mix things up.

On the square was a "Tabac", which is a class of store that can also have a bar, but for us it was postcards. There were also nifty keychains, but Dodie has been fighting a (mostly) sucessful battle against me picking up pounds of souvenirs. The one in the foreground is a St Jacques Compostelle, with Limousin crest - would be a good score! Note however that they all are made in China!

We set off to delve deeper into the city, but as you see, the street we needed to take was pretty ordinary.

Before we did see any old streets, we arrived at the church St. Michel des Lions. Although named for St. Michel (who is also the Michel of Mont St Michel), the church is really all about Saint Martial, who has his tomb inside. Saint Martial was the first bishop of Limoges, having arrived here from Rome in the third century. He not only got a tomb here, but his statue stands at the entrance to the Cathedral.

Other than Saint Martial, this church was notable for nice light coming from elaborately painted windows, and for at two interesting statues, that I show below:

This statue's dramatic gesture is reflected in the shadow.

There is often an issue of scale in Mary and Jesus statues. The Jesus can be portrayed as a tiny man in her arms. Perhaps he is considered super mature for his age.

We noticed this column is crooked. Could be trouble?

Outside there are two lions, a little worse for weathering.

The guide mentions the copper ball atop the church. OK, got that.

Now we could descend into some of the older streets of Limoges. This was towards the Rue de la Boucherie, butchers street.

We passed this trompe oeil painted building. It was done by some sort of society (called Cobaty) for some reason, but I didn't get why. The plaque in front was somewhat defaced, which didn't help, but I think I still didn't get it.

We had hoped to visit Les Halles in this town, but the building was closed on Mondays (just because). We proceeded toward the butchers' quarter, and began to see old houses with half timber construction.

The narrow street was clogged with restoration work, but it was still possible to pass.

The restoration work gave a peek into the guts of these old buildings. These are 13th to 15th century structures!

One of the buildings, a former butcher shop, was bought by the city and is open to the public (just not right now, of course). Peeking through the window we see meat hooks on the left wall, and a sign "Don't touch the meat".

More of this old section follows:

In the middle of the butchers' village is a small chapel, a building from the 15th century that houses the relics of the patron saint of butchers, Saint Aurelien - same name as a friend of ours from near Nantes. It is cited in our guide for its unusual steeple with wooden tiles.

Here is a travel souvenir for which somebody was not worried about the weight!

We shifted to a slightly different section of the old town, passing the sign below.

Here was born the step sister of the best friend of the grandfather of the neighbour of the ... of Coco Chanel. At least it was not Joan of Arc, that slept here.

We went through a narrow passageway and entered a courtyard of a large house. Very old and very private, invisible from the street.

We now hopped onto the only street that I think of as the ice cream-walking street. Well, at least it had a Mie Caline and a Paul's within a block. Though we are generally Paul's fans, we went to Mie Caline, for a hot chocolate and sort of chocolate cake.

In the street I noticed what is actually a very common vehicle - an Aixam. It's a little like a Smart, but I am of two minds about it. On the one hand its small and cheap (between 10,000 and 20,000 euros) but it really is a crappy little thing, with 2 cylinders and 479 cc. Sounds like a lawnmower. On the other hand, maybe it's the spiritual successor to the deux chevaux?

We were now ready to get down to it, on Boulevard Louis Blanc, known locally as Porcelain Street. We jumped into the first porcelain shop we saw, and it was so big that by the end we knew we had now seen most of the story. As we walked around, I kept trying to find the "Limoges" that was Dodie's image of what Limoges would look like from her favourite historical novels. In fact, there were so many styles it was hard to put a finger on any characteristic Limoges design. I did form my own preference for anything with birds or flowers or plants. Birds are in there, because we think they would be good for Scott. And the plant ones I photographed are ones favoured by Joni. So that leaves me with the flowers.

Here is a hand painting station. We later learned that current production is not hand painted - too slow and expensive.

Look, this beautiful second was only 3 euros, and it did not really feel too breakable. I argued that I could carry it in my sock bag, but Dodie was not having it!

On the other hand, here is the children's Limoges. At only 30 euros per plate they can freely throw them from their high chairs!

We next passed the Hotel de Ville, which is in the style of the one in Paris. Fancy buildings like this were put up under the third republic (after 1870) when more powers were devolved to towns.

Four boys on the fountain depict phases of porcelain making. See the porcelain on the fountain.

We now reached the precinct of the St Etienne cathedral, which is separate from the rest of the old town. The cathedral was started by Richard the Lionheart, who in 1169 accompanied by his mother (Eleanor of Aquitaine) was confirmed Duke of Aquitaine. The cathedral as we see it here today was started later, in 1273.

The cathedral has this Romanesque tower, but is mostly Gothic.

Just inside the door we see who we assume are Richard and Eleanor. And just below them, an unusually polychromatic Saint Martial.

In this building, as in so many others, the stained glass is really striking.

But we also have less usual painted columns. There was also a piece of contemporary artwork, depicting saints using non standard designs.

The cathedral also has frescoes, both old and new, and more painted windows, some as recent as 1872.

And outside, in the bishop's garden, another lion!

By the Bishop's palace, beside the cathedral, there was an extensive botanical garden, with the same class of plants enclosed in their own boxwood beds and carefully labelled. We think this was the work of the city parks department, rather than the continuation of a church activity.

This guy was hiding, but is surely a sparrow?

We have had little luck with magpies generally, since in the fields they do not seem to hold still. But here we met one that was really drawn to baguette, and refused to leave!

We now went all the way down to the Vienne river, to the bridge St Etienne which has been there since medieval times. It was built in the 13th century, divert some traffic from the Saint Martial bridge, which is a bit downstream. This is the bridge that has always been used by the St Jacques pilgrims, and it provides them with their first view of the cathedral.

The view up to the cathedral. Presumably those other buildings were not there in 1300!

From the bridge we walked along by the river to our almost final stop, the site of the Limoges porcelain factory facilities. On the street we ran into a sign for the "Grill'Inn" with an enticing shot of the steaks in their all you can eat buffet. Between here and their location, if they can take the time to finish cooking the darn things, they might have a customer in me!

This area by the river was and still is the site of the famous Lomoges porcelain production. In the early going, the river location was essential because the kilns were fired from wood that was floated down the river. The area is called "casseaux", something to do with breaking the waters. Later the kilns converted to coal. Nowadays, the originals are obsolete, and the modern versions are fired by gas.

The modern production facilities are not open for visits, and in fact we did not quite spot them. But one former kiln, from what had been a maor complex of them, remains as a museum. As was the case for Meissen, which we visited in Germany, and no doubt any other early porcelain production, the secret was in the discovery of the right kind of kaolin, sometimes called "white gold". But once discovered, the clay had to be mined and then carried to the production facility. It turns out that women did a lot of this, and books in the museum highlight their role. There were also lots of evocative photos of the production workers, from around 1900, including children as well.The centrepiece was the large two story kiln, which was made from 100,000 refractory bricks and could hold 15,000 pieces, to be fired for 40 hours. Each piece was placed and protected in a clay container, and it was a big and a skilled job to stack these all for the firing.

The flame travelled through the two stories

The other half of the museum was a sales floor for the local factory production. One of my favourite patterns was "Roses of Paris". Hey, for 92 euros I could have a pickle dish!

We agreed this was the most interesting part of the day.

Just around the corner, there was a McDonald's, and we were parched! They had a smoothie on offer (left) and that was fine, but how about the vanilla shake (right)? In the photo I have not drunk any yet - that's it. No wonder French people are often so slim!

One other thing about this, since it was not a takeout, our things came in "real" glasses that would later be washed.

Here is where you put your stuff when finished. There is provision to empty your drink and to put your glass in for washing. Not bad. But you have to order three shakes to get a decent quantity!

Our final stop was the train station, which has the clock tower that is something of a symbol for the city. There is interesting glass and design as well. It caused us to remark that our town, the provincial capital, does not even have a train, let alone a station like this!

And the ceiliing. And they even have trains as well!

Today's ride: 13 km (8 miles)
Total: 1,974 km (1,226 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	7
Comment on this entry	Comment	0