Follow the Route of Richard the Lionheart in France for a trip back in time and a lesson in history. The trail takes you through Haute-Vienne and Corrèze (Limousin) to the edge of Dordogne. It covers almost 200km and includes 23 sites open to the public. Including possibly the only bowels in the world which are a tourist attraction…

Richard the Lionheart

Richard the Lionheart was a great warrior King, a great hero and a great symbol of western brutality and expansionism. But he was first and foremost a great Francophile. In his ten-year reign, Richard 1 only spent a little over six months in England. A child of Aquitaine, French was his first language. He rarely spoke anything else.

Richard Plantagenet was born in Oxfordshire in 1157. At the age of twelve he pledged homage to the King of France. At fourteen he was made Duke of Aquitaine in the church of St Hillaire in Poitiers. There was also a ceremony in Limoges. In 1189, on the death of Henry 11, he was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey. His statue still stands in the Houses of Parliament. He married Beregaria of Navarre but had no children. Known as “the only English queen never to set foot in the country”, she is buried at L’Epau Abbey, Le Mans. But he is most remembered for being “The Absent King”.

Though famous for fighting the French and undertaking crusades, surprisingly, Richard the Lionheart’s death had nothing to do with religion, revenge or politics. And everything to do with money.

Richard the Lionheart’s last resting place

Although there is some doubt whether it took place in Chalus or Montbrun, while ploughing a field in Limousin, a peasant unearthed a hoard of treasure consisting of statues and gold. The feudal lord immediately laid claim to it and, hearing of the windfall, so did the King. When the lord refused to hand over the treasure Richard laid siege to his castle in Chalus.

On March 26^th, 1199, while circling the keep and taunting its occupants, the king was struck in the shoulder by a longbowman’s bolt or arrow. Pierre Basile is thought to be the archer. He is reputed to have defended himself with a frying pan. Refusing treatment, the King died of gangrene eleven days later, aged forty-two. He was buried at his father’s feet as he had requested, at the Abbey of Fontevraud in the Loire Valley. His heart ended up in Rouen Cathedral.

For some reason, his bowels were left in the Romanesque church at Chalus and are perhaps the only bowels in the world which have become a tourist attraction.

“Chalus guards her Duke’s entrails. His body Fontevraud in marble enshrines. The Normans boast the King’s unconquered heart. Three countries thus share the glorious ashes of the King too great too rest in one alone.” Goes the saying.

Richard the Lionheart route through France

You can’t see the bowels, but you can visit the castle at Chalus-Chabrol. It forms the end point and main highlight of the Limousin department’s “Richard the Lionheart Route”. The official way-marked trail around the countryside just outside of Limoges.

The route takes in the fortresses and scenery where Richard battled to protect his mother’s homeland of Aquitaine. The trail starts just over the border of the Haute-Vienne at the castle of Rochebrune. It was named after the sacred Druidic stone nearby and was the residence of the princes of the Chabanais. One of them, Jourdain V, crusaded with Richard.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

The Counts of Poitiers ruled the Duchy of Aquitaine which at the time included the Limousin region of south-west central France. When the male line died out in 1137, Eleanor was left as sole heir. Her first husband, Louis, heir to the French throne, repudiated her. She then married the future English king Henry II whose authoritarian ways did not go down too well. So, by the time their son Richard inherited the Duchy in 1169, he was not a great favourite with the regional overlords. They were glad to see the back of him when he took upon himself to defend the faith and try and take back Jerusalem.

Castles and beautiful villages

In his absence they fortified their castles against his return. The route takes in all the major fortifications on the south-west border of the viscounty of Limoges. It starts on the D7 at Arnac-Pompadour. The original fort was burnt down by Richard. The castle as it stands today was a present from Louis XV to his mistress. She never bothered to stay there. It is now a famous stud farm and has a racecourse nearby.

Segur-le-Chateau

Segur-Le-Chateau, a village of medieval timbered houses on the banks of the river Auvezere, is the next stop and is officially one of the prettiest villages in France. It’s joined in the beauty charts in the area by Curemonte, Collonges-la-Rouge with its red sandstone houses and Treignac, a walled town sheltered by the chateau of Comborn overlooking the river Vezere to the north of the mountains of Monedieres.

Further along the D18 is Coussac-Bonneval whose owner Count Guillame brought back two lions for the Bishop of Limoges from the crusades. In the eighteenth century the marquis began breeding Limousin’s now famous beef stock. Saint Yrieix La Perche is also on the Route to Santiago de Compostela.

Jumilhac le Grand

Travelling through cherry-filled fields, you come to the turreted Jumilhac Le Grand which is actually just over the border in the Dordogne. Richard coveted this fortress where coins had been minted since the Merovingian dynasty. A fortified church was added to Le Chalard monastery to repel Richard. It contains the cemetery of forty medieval monks in sculptured stone. Nexon,  on the D11, is now another stud farm. The once powerful Lastours family originally bred horses for the royal family and brought back Arabic horses from the Crusades. The castle has an extensive park landscaped “a l’anglaise”. The Jumilhac family (who owned it in the 16^th century) regained the castle in 1929 and they have been restoring it sympathetically ever since.

Chateaux and chestnut forests

Chalus-Maulmont, built by Geraud de Maulmont on the banks of the Tardoire, is more imposing. At the time it represented state-of-the-art impregnability with its square keep  shouldered by two round towers. Rising from its moat the 12^th century Montbrun chateau was built by Aymeric Brun on his return from the Crusades to replace the ancient Carolingian motte and bailey still visible in the park.

The routes wends its way through the heart of the chestnut forests of the Feuillardiers Natural Regional Park in the western Limousin. While there, don’t miss the picturesque fortified manor of Brie, built in 1484. The interior has some fine Louis XV furniture and a granite spiral stairway.

Pass through Les Salles Lavauguyon, famous for its healing springs. It hasn’t really got any Richard the Lionheart connections unlike the last castle on the route. Rochechouart, built on a Gallo-Roman military and religious site, was the home of one of the few of Richard’s allies in this tense region.

The Richard the Lionheart Route

Follow the signs of Richard Coeur de Lion and travel to the heart of Limousin. Discover the typically French rural region which led English travel writer, Arthur Young to write in 1787 “I prefer Limousin more than other province in France … the beauty of Limousin does not depend on any one particular aspect but the combination of many. Hills, forests, hedgerows, rivers, lakes, scattered farms form a thousand delicious landscapes which beautify the countryside.”

Find out more about the route of Richard the Lionheart here: www.routerichardcoeurdelion.com

By Kevin Pilley, a freelance writer for numerous publications including The Telegraph, USA Today, Irish Times and many, many more.

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We talk to Jacqui Wood from the UK who now lives and works in the lovely Haute-Vienne region, north-west France. It’s an area of forests and lakes, unspoiled countryside and picturesque villages as well as the lovely city of Limoges, famous for its porcelain production.

Jacqui and her husband Mark, a former London policeman before retiring, now live in the commune of Saint Pardoux where they run a gite and work for Leggett Immobilier, voted France’s best estate agent.

We asked Jacqui about life in the Haute-Vienne…

What inspired you to move to France?

A friend of ours bought a house herewith a view to running a B&B and that idea really appealed to us. She told us that the area was beautiful and a bit like the English Lake District. We were originally looking further south, but decided Haute-Vienne was worth a visit. We were quite astounded at how much property and land you could get for your money, by comparison to further south and we fell totally in love with the beauty of the place. We came in early November, and were mesmerized by all the beautiful colours everywhere. I remember having a general feeling of well-being as we lived the daily life, visiting little villages for lunch or dinner, even though most of the time there was no one around.

What is your house like?

We bought an old stone house with an attached barn, funny enough from some English people! The house had already been updated, but we needed to change some things, as we wanted to run a B&B. We installed ensuite bathrooms and renovated rooms and created a large terrace at the back in the garden. The house is on quite a steep hill, so it was hard work. We opened as a B&B the summer after we moved and got a builder in to renovate the barn which then became a lovely gite which we rent out.

What made you fall in love with your new home?

I’ve always thought the house was really pretty, it looks really homely & cosy. Inside, I really liked the old wood floors and rickety staircase, which we decided not to change and I love that we have so much space. Looking out the window and seeing deer in the garden is a lovely sight. We’re near the swimming lake at Saint Pardoux, it has three beaches and walking paths which are wonderful. And one of my favourite things is the café at Bessines sur Gartempe, where Didier the owner serves the best coffee, according to Mark, and the best hot chocolate, according to me! There are festivals and fetes, great gastronomy and sitting at a café watching the hustle and bustle, especially in the sun, is just perfect.

Do you consider yourself a member of the local community?

Sometimes we have a get together with neighbours for a community meal – we all make a dish or dessert to take along and it usually lasts all afternoon and evening. I keep my horse at a local club, and get involved with club activities and rides – all in French and something I never believed I could have done, when we first arrived here.

Jacqui’s tips for home seekers in France

Make sure you know what you really want and why you want it. Sometimes people want loads of land, but don’t realize that it can get very overgrown very quickly, especially when you’re not here all the time to look after it.

Don’t just buy the first house you see and like. There are a lot of beautiful houses in beautiful villages and there’s plenty of choice, it’s a good idea to take a step back and really think hard about it.

Try to spend some time in the area where you think you’d like to buy. The surroundings are just as important as the house, especially for living here permanently. You need to know what’s about, activities, facilities, bars restaurants, how far away things are and what the people are like.

Keep an open mind and try to look at options, often the smallest amount of renovation can give you the perfect house. Sometimes you have to look beyond what you see and be a little creative.

And when you move to France:

Remember there are cultural differences between the UK and France. You don’t always think about these at the beginning, but respecting them can make the difference between being accepted or not. Politeness costs nothing and attempting to say a few words in French can go a very long way.

Give yourself time to make the adjustment to French life. Sometimes in the beginning you can feel isolated and miss home; I think it can a few years sometimes, to feel settled.

Jacqui Wood’s property portfolio in Haute-Vienne

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There has been a city where Limoges now stands, for thousands of years. The Romans settled there, finding a sunny hill that was well drained with a river close by. They built villas and baths, an amphitheatre and all the mod cons of the day. Some remains are still there. The birthplace of Renoir and home of Balzac and Molière, Limoges is a city of secrets. Bishops, priests and locals carved out a 12-mile network of tunnels to store food, grain and wine during the hot summers and to hide from the marauding army of the Black Prince in 1370.

Centuries later, a cathedral and chateau were built and the town grew busy and rich. In 1768, the discovery of kaolin near Limoges kick started the porcelain industry that the town is now known for around the world. Fans of The Antiques Road Show will know that Limoges Porcelain is the crème de la crème, the best in the world.

The porcelain industry continues to flourish here. The town of Limoges is peppered with stores selling cups and saucers of every size, shape and style. Dinner services, teapots, ornaments, lights, there are small quirky shops and huge warehouses of porcelain.

The People of Limoges are potty for pottery

“In Limoges, everyone checks the backs of their plates. In restaurants or at the houses of friends – they want to see who made it, to make sure it is real Limoges” I’m told.  Authentic porcelain is translucent. Just hold it up to the light and you’ll see the faint glow through the solid fine china. Going back to The Antiques Road Show – that’s one of their first tests when they’re assessing an heirloom. Fail that first basic check and sadly the dinner service your Aunty Betty left you that you thought would be your nest egg is most likely a dud. That’s not to say that all porcelain that’s see through is Limoges.

There are several requirements for making sure its real Limoges china. From where it’s made start to the ingredients, the design, flair, art, makers marks…

You’ll often come across Limoges porcelain in restaurants and probably won’t even know it. Sure it’s pricey but good restaurants want the best and this stuff lasts. The sexy, sophisticated and iconic striped dinner service used in Claridges, London was produced by Bernadaud. I’m smitten with the silver and green stripes. “How much” I ask. The reply is a discrete cough and I’m informed I can’t buy that exact service. It’s unique to Claridges (of course) but I can have something that looks very like it – a small coffee cup costs €25. I’m rather surprised by how affordable it is.

Read more about Limoges Pottery

Porcelain fans will love the Adrien Dubouché National Museum of Porcelain with over 10,000 porcelain and earthenware pieces from all over the world, a must-see for ceramics fans.

What to see and do in Limoges:

Rue de la Boucherie

Pedestrianised rue de la Boucherie was named for the butchers’ shops that lined the street in the Middle Ages, the timber buildings are quite beautiful. Wander, eat, drink and be merry… in the old streets of Limoges. Relax at a terrace café, enjoy a meal at a restaurant – there’s a whole lot of choice here. Try Le Bistrot Jourdan for authentic atmosphere, lovely setting and great food.

Fresh air and glorious countryside of Limousin

Get out and about to discover picturesque villages and lush green countryside. Head to Lupersat, a typical Limousin village with a few shops and a great little bistro where you can watch the bread being made for lunch and buy wine to take home. Not too far away is Aubusson, the centre of excellence when it came to tapestries and carpets of days gone by. The museum there is a must-see for all tapestry fans.

Centre de la Mémoire, Oradour-sur-Glane

On 10 June 1944, the little town of Oradour-sur-Glane, 21km northwest of Limoges, suffered one of the worst Nazi atrocities on French soil. The Village of the Martyrs has been left exactly as it was that day. It is a powerful reminder of dark days and a sobering visit. Read more about Oradour-sur-Glane.

What’s on when

Limoges hosts several annual festivals, the most spectacular of which, from September 24 to October 6, involves actors, artists and performers. On the third Friday in October a feast-day celebrates the city’s devotion to meat in the aptly named rue de la Boucherie.

The “Frairie des Petits Ventres” Annual Food Fair

The “Frairie des Petits Ventres” is a great food fair organised every year. On the third Friday of October, it’s held in the Rue de la Boucherie, a district linked with the long history of the Butchers’ Guild of Limoges. This is an opportunity to get introduced to local gastronomic specialities in a fun atmosphere.

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Aubusson is famous the world over though not for its picturesque town with winding narrow streets, lovely architecture, pavement cafés and quirky shops or the glorious countryside that surrounds it. Aubusson is known for its tapestries and carpets, for this is where a remarkable industry has operated for six centuries.

History of Aubusson Tapestry

It is thought that tapestry production emerged here in Aubusson around 600 years ago; many historians date it to 1457.  Today that heritage is celebrated in the Aubusson Tapestry Museum  where you’ll discover an incredible collection of old and new tapestries.

One of the oldest tapestries on show dates back, it is thought, to the end of the 15th Century. Experts say that as it depicts plants from the newly discovered America, it must be post 1492, but the colours and style are those of the late 1400s, early 1500s.

The river Creuse that runs through the town was by then already supporting manufacturing including linen and mills lined the river so it made sense to start a tapestry industry there too. Also, the acidic quality of the water was perfect for degreasing the wool that was used to make tapestries.

Tapestries were only for the rich, royalty, aristocrats, Bishops and the like. Tapestries were hung on walls and warmed up the palaces and manor houses of the wealthy and added colour. They were status symbols and designed to impress with their depictions of grand houses, knightly themes and mythical beasts. It was a hard physical job to do, pushing with arms and legs for 12 hours a day and it took at least ten years for a man to become a master weaver; women were not involved in the business of weaving until the early 20th Century. Working in the tapestry industry was though, considered a good job.

The French Revolution brought huge changes for Aubusson’s weavers, since these objects of the rich were of course frowned upon. Then, mechanisation arrived and the industry no longer needed thousands of manual weavers.

The biggest tapestry in the world

Aubusson continued to make tapestries and indeed the biggest tapestry in the world was created there in 1960s. Commissioned to commemorate the bombing of Coventry Cathedral it measures an astonishing 263 m² – roughly the size of a tennis court. It weighs more than a ton and is the biggest tapestry to have been made in one piece, woven on a loom made of two enormous tree trunks. It took four years to make, features around 900 colours, roughly 144 stitches per square inch and was woven by 13 weavers at Pinton Frères at Felletin, near Aubusson.

It carries a 500 year guarantee against fading and moths!

Aubusson today

There are weavers working in Aubusson to this day but, it’s still a rich man’s product, costing around Euros 2000 – 3000 per m² to commission a tapestry.

In 1981 a museum was founded in Aubusson to acquire tapestries and they now have more than 300 tapestries and 15000 weavers’ cards – the largest collection in the world. Looking at the collection you can clearly see French values mirrored in tapestries throughout history, the detail is astonishing. The more you look the more you come to understand how it is that it took at least ten years to become a master weaver and learn to pick colours, blend wool with silk, work by candle light, weavers fingers deftly threading.

The tapestries depict scenes of their day, mysteries, legends and life in France through colour, style and the images. There are some tapestries on display that are even quite cheeky! A tapestry that seems to show a rural party enjoying a seesaw (baloncaire) was apparently quite risqué, designed to allow viewers to look up the skirts of the ladies!  Another shows what looks like a game of ‘blind man’s bluff’ à la 18th Century – an adults game designed to allow contact a sort of very early “what the butler saw”.

There are photos by the wonderful Robert Doisneau taken in the middle of the 20th Century, shelves full of coloured silks and wools, looms, tapestries being woven on site, ancient tapestries and new.

Take time to visit the pretty town and listen to the river as it flows on its way now as it did in the heady heyday of Aubusson tapestry making.

www.cite-tapisserie.fr
www.tourisme-aubusson.com

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In France, strawberries are adored – in fact the French even claim to be responsible for the popularity of the delicious red fruit!

The common woodland strawberry was known in Roman times and grown in Europe since early days but it was much later that the sweet red strawberry will know today was cultivated. In France they are called fraises.

In 1714, Amédeé François Frézier, an explorer, mathematician and naval military engineer of Louis XIV was sent to South America to spy on the Spanish who had ports there. He returned to France with some strawberry plants from Chile and gave them to the gardeners at the King’s Royal Gardens in Paris. The fruit was white, quite large “as big as a small egg” said Frézier and not particular tasty. The Paris gardeners sent the plants to Brittany where they were cross bred with other berries grown around the town of Plougastel near Brest. They produced the succulent tasty strawberries we know and love today.

Nowhere loves them more than the town of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, famous for making the biggest strawberry tart in the world!

Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in Correze, Limousin claims to be at the heart of “Strawberry Country” and celebrates its Fete de la Fraise every spring on the second Sunday of May. There is a competition for the best fruit, producer’s stalls, music, games, sports activities, circus school, craft market, a parade and an incredibly enormous strawberry tart – enough to give the thousands who attend this colourful festival a slice! Entry is free to this typically French festival.

The picturesque town is in the heart of Dordogne in a beautiful and unspoiled part of France that’s well worth a visit – even if you don’t make it to the Strawberry Festival!

Now… if only we could team the biggest strawberry tart in the world with the biggest bottle of Champagne in the world – we’d have one big party on our hands!

More on Limousin
Going potty for pottery in Limoges
Aubusson – the Tapestry Town

www.beaulieu-sur-dordogne.fr

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I visited Oradour-sur-Glane in the Limousin region many years ago. The town is known as the village of the martyrs, a sad memorial to it’s tragic past and the atrocity that took place there on 10 June 1944…

I had been camping along the Atlantic Coast on my way to a rugby match at Nontron. It was mid June and the weather was gloriously hot. Passing a sign for Oradour-sur-Glane my companion and I decided to stop off and visit. He knew more than I about it. A village destroyed during World War II by occupying forces he said, it had been left almost exactly as it was one terrible day in June, 1944.

The memory of that visit has never left me. Although a sunny day, I nevertheless shivered as I surveyed the complete destruction that was laid out before me. The explanation my friend had given was in no way preparation for the sight that met my eyes and the story that unfolded and I am not ashamed to tell you that I cried when I heard what had happened here.

I visited again in June 2014. There have been big changes. A visitor centre has been erected and through a series of photographs, information boards, film and artefacts, the story of what happened in this once prosperous rural village is revealed as far as is known. For the fact is, to this day, no-one can say for sure why the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich unit wreaked such terrible havoc on the village and its people.

This visit was no less poignant than my first time though the elements have taken their toll on this eerily quiet, still place.

German forces, reeling from the Normandy D-Day landing battles sought to repress French Resistance activity, fearing that it could get out of control. Although no one can say precisely why Oradour-sur-Glane was their target it is thought that the SS unit patrolling the area decided to make an example of the village and terrify others into submission.

It isn’t easy for me to write this, the words are hard to find that can convey the sheer awfulness of man’s inhumanity to man. The SS unit rounded the villagers up, herded women and children into a church and the men into groups in various buildings in the town. They then massacred them. 642 people ranging from babies to the old and infirm were murdered. 240 women and 205 children were asphyxiated, machine-gunned and burnt alive in the church. The men were shot. The town was then systematically destroyed. Every house, shop, bike shed, chicken coop was decimated.

When years later the time to clear up came, it was decided to build a new town and to leave the old village exactly as it is. Cars rust in the streets, an upturned pram, a doll, pair of spectacles – the detritus of everyday life has been left as it was that terrible day. A memorial to the victims and a reminder that we should do all we can to ensure such days never come again. It must be said, this does not make for a happy visit but it is an incredibly powerful experience, one that stuns all those who go there.

As Victor Hugo, the great French writer once said “Those who live must think of the dead”…

Oradour-sur-Glane Memorial Centre website

For information on what to see and do in Limousin visit: www.tourismelimousin.com
For information on France see uk.rendezvousenfrance.com

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Walk anywhere in Limoges and you can’t fail to be aware of the town’s reputation for making some of the best porcelain in the world. Shop windows galore are filled to the brim with teapots, vases, cups and sauces and the accoutrements of tableware…

Porcelain in Limoges

I popped into the premises of Bernadaud, one of the great porcelain makers since 1863.  It’s the perfect place for an overview of just what it is that makes the pottery produced here in the capital of Limousin in the centre of France so very special. There are dozens of producers and shops in the town of Limoges where they’ve been making it since the late 18^th Century, so you’ll have a great choice.

Bernadaud in Limoges is not just a shop. There is also a museum which has a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, a workshop, seconds factory, little terraced café and a boutique. The sheer diversity of what can be done by this renowned porcelain company may leave you goggle eyed. If you think it’s all about cups and saucers, bowls and plates, think again.

I saw the most incredible lamps made from porcelain in the museum; there is jewellery, ornaments and pots of all shapes and sizes. Best of all, at Bernadaud you’re able to follow the process from the mixing of the raw ingredients to the application of real gold, silver and platinum.

“In Limoges, everyone checks the backs of their plates. In restaurants at the houses of friends… they want to see who made it, to make sure it is Limoges and real” says my guide. Authentic porcelain is translucent and has a special delicate feel, hold it up to the light and you’ll see the faint glow through the solid fine china. You’ll often come across Bernadaud in restaurants. The sexy, sophisticated and iconic striped dinner service used in Claridges, London was produced by Bernadaud. In the museum the unmistakable style of this oh so chic dinner set is laid out for visitors to enjoy alongside services from many of the major hotels and restaurants of the world.

I ask the guide if I, a mere member of public, can buy a Claridges set to enjoy at home. She splutters and tells me absolutely not. Then she takes pity on me and tells me that I can buy something very similar in the shop.

She tells me that this particular set was conceived by Olivier Gagnère, a famous French designer, and that Bernadaud work with many designers and with individual clients. Not a company to rest on their 150 year old laurels they constantly seek innovation in design. Anyone can have a bespoke service designed and produced – if they have enough money. How much I ask, and she refuses to answer saying every design is so individual it is not possible to give random quotes – though we’re talking in the thousands of Euros, not the hundreds for a bespoke plate with a picture of your dog. Making porcelain in a complex process she assures me and we go into the museum to check it out for ourselves.

There are boxes of the key ingredients: water and kaolin, a form of clay. There are moulds and pottery pieces to touch and examine. It’s pottery until its glazed, then it’s called porcelain. Bernadaud has a big factory in nearby Oradour-sur-Glane where the mixing and moulding is carried out. The pieces are then carefully transferred to Limoges for the final touches. Almost everything is glazed by hand in a liquid of “secret ingredients”. The pieces are fired, glazed, refired, painted, embellished and finally ready for everyday use.

The painting is carried out with special brushes made of fine silk fibres or goats hair; real gold, silver and platinum is applied by hand. Everything requires an immense amount of expertise; the finishes are painstakingly applied and so much harder than you think they could possibly be. If one microscopic lick of paint is deemed out of place by the experts who eyeball every piece – it goes to the seconds shop, and it’s amazing to see how much there was in that space and I couldn’t see a single thing wrong or out of place/

No wonder the town has a special liqueur named after kaolin, the essential material that forms the porcelain.

So important is porcelain considered in France that each French president has a porcelain dinner service presented to him for use during his tenure in office. Bernadaud designed the set used by President Jacques Chirac, but to make it fair and unbiased, the President does not get to choose, each maker gets a turn.

Porcelain fans will love the Adrien Dubouché National Museum of Porcelain with over 10,000 porcelain and earthenware pieces from all over the world.

Next time your dinner is served – don’t forget to lift the plate and check if you can see through it and find the little mark that proves its been made by the best in the world.

For information on what to see and do in Limousin visit: www.tourismelimousin.com

For information on France see uk.rendezvousenfrance.com

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Turenne, Correze in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (formerly Limousin region) is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France (by Les Plus Beaux Villages de France group).

Turenne is a popular tourist destination thanks to its rather unique position on top of a cliff. What makes this so unusual and so spectacular is the sheer height – 320m up and perched on a very distinct hill. Full of beautiful winding streets, old buildings, castle ruins and a famous tower, Turenne sits atop a limestone hill known as the Martel Causse. The views from the top are spectacular, green fields, forests and beautiful countryside lay all around in an almost 360 degree application. On a clear day (and with good eyesight) you can see for 20 miles around – mountains, villages, forests and fields making a verdant patchwork of the beautiful landscape.

The cobbled streets, burgher houses made from limestone, abundance of towers and turrets make this little medieval village in the sky a place for exploration and discovery though the hilly paths are steep. The climb to the top cannot be undertaken by coach – passengers have to walk and only cars belonging to the inhabitants may be driven all the way up.

The town has a rich history, named after one of Louis XIV’s famous military commanders, Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, known as Viscount Turenne.  For a while the town was honoured with a quasi-independence from the crown; crusaders sheltered there, and thanks to the Sun King’s great Marshal Turenne it achieved a remarkable, international reputation. The castle was dismantled by Louis XV and there is now a garden among the ruins.

There are many very fine buildings, including a 12th century church and the César Tower built in the 11^th Century and with a spiral staircase leading to a viewing platform for those who have no fear of heights!

Video showing just how high and spectacular this little village is:

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How two Brits met and changed their lives with a move to France... Chris was a veteran of 30 years in the Metropolitan police, running his own outdoor activity business specializing in mountain biking, walking and climbing, father to three grown-up children and mentor to many more. Charlotte was a classic single “Social Butterfly”, with a ‘Sex and the City’ lifestyle living and working in London, New York and Brighton.

They met through mutual friends on Chris’ 50^th birthday and knew immediately it was love. Charlotte says “he proposed on Hove seafront in December 2010 and we had the most wonderful wedding in March 2012 – the ceremony was the most perfect moment of my life”.

Charlotte continues the story: We both had a hankering and had been quietly plotting to live somewhere warmer with a healthier attitude to life. We had different but complementary backgrounds in hospitality, mine corporate and his from his Mountain Adventure UK business, and so the idea to run a chambre d’hôte and cycling business started to germinate. When a large house in a rural area of France metaphorically fell into our laps through a circuitous family connection, it was too good an opportunity to miss. So we took a leap of faith and moved our lives to France in between the wedding and the honeymoon… let’s say it was a tad on the stressful side!

June 2012 saw us arriving in our quintessentially French village of Bussière-Poitevine, in the region of Limousin, to establish Maison Bussière, our chambre d’hôte. We’d heard lurid tales of terminal French bureaucracy, but – once we’d battled floods in the kitchen, me falling down the stairs, Chris impaling himself on the pickaxe and yet more floods in the cellar – we got off comparatively lightly. Within a few months we had all our licenses, websites and social media up and running, and all the scars have healed!

Crucial to our happiness here have been many and varied factors – the villagers have been wonderfully warm, friendly and welcoming. We had seemingly endless weeks of unbroken sunshine last summer and the countryside around us is just so magnificently beautiful. Chris is stoically realistic and keeps us just about afloat whilst I’m absurdly over-enthusiastic and routinely hurl myself into everything with ludicrous gusto.

The village is an absolute delight – a picturesque, authentic, classic French rural village, complete with all the characters you would associate with that. The twice-daily pilgrimage to the boulangerie is a feast for every sense, opening the door is always a special moment and every visitor immediately volunteers to undertake the pilgrimage. Tuesdays are the best day of the week as the village is graced by visits by the affectionately titled Monsieur Legume and Madame Fromage. Their produce is nothing short of spectacularly good, and they give brilliant tips on how to cook each item and they’re incredibly patient with our woeful attempts at French conversation.

The church bells mean nothing. They chime on the hour and again at 5 minutes past, no one has been able to give us a suitable explanation as to why. They go bonkers on Sunday mornings, but few pay any attention as apparently they’ve popped into the Saturday night mass, in order to stay in bed the following morning. It’s a little local quirk, and as the church is 12th century and the building generally revered, no one seems to mind very much that it’s campanologically challenged.

To cycle around here is a joy – wide empty roads with the sun on your back and only sharing the road with three cows and a tractor if it’s rush hour… and naturally with cycling being close to a religion in France, French drivers are deeply respectful of sharing these empty roads. Chris is like a little boy in a sweetie shop cycling the tracks and roads, and running a cycling business; being paid to do what he loves is an added bonus. Even my formerly entrenched stance of ‘you’ll never get me on a bike’ has long been abandoned for leisurely rides through the magnificent countryside – I can be coaxed along for miles on the promise of a lovely picnic with plenty of ripe Camembert on a fresh baguette…

It’s been a leap of faith and required a healthy dollop of patience and humour, but with the help and support of the village, our amazingly patient neighbours and new friends and our families, we’ve carved out a wonderful life here in rural France – and we’re always delighted to share a slice of it!

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Each year on the second Sunday of May, the pretty town of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in the Limousin region hosts a very special feast open to everyone – the feast of the strawberry!

For a whole day the strawberry is celebrated in grand style and attracts visitors from near and far.

A market, artisans and craftsmen set up stalls, street entertainers roam and musical events from bands to accordion players are to be found throughout the town. As you’d expect there are culinary workshops on the theme of the strawberry with chefs sharing their strawberry secrets and know-how.  You can buy all manner of gourmet produce made with strawberries of many types from the fraise des bois (to the old and much loved French variety La Gariguette with its sweet and aromatic fruit.

The big event though is the making of a giant strawberry tart made by all of the bakers and patissiers of Beaulieu. No ordinary tart this – it is 8 metres in diameter and is made with 800 kilogrammes of strawberries.

In the afternoon the strawberry tart is cut and all visitors are offered a slice – irresistible!

See the website for Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne for more details: http://www.beaulieu-tourisme.com

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