Limoges!

 

After our quick stop through Castres, we left early in the morning and headed north on Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny/N141.  Six hours and sixteen minutes later (it was a very scenic route) we arrived in Limoges.  It is a city of 139,026 in Southwest-Central France. 

In the 11th century, Limoges became a center of music and arts thanks to the presence of Abbey St Martial and its large library.  During the French Revolution, the Abbey was razed (it was seen as part of the Ancien Régime), but much of its cultural impact remains.

The city prides itself on its "Arts of Fire".  Limoges has a rich history of producing porcelain, enamel, and stained glass.  Around 1768, kaolinite, a clay mineral, was discovered in the surrounding area.  A new economy emerged, fueled by kaolinite, which was used to make porcelain.  Limoges is now famous for its ceramics, and produces over 50% of the porcelain in France.

 

 

Clearly we needed to get a good taste of Limoges porcelain, so our first stop was 8bis, place Winston Churchill; Musée national Adrien Dubouché (The French National Porcelain Museum).  A law was passed in 1881 declaring the museum a national institution, and now contains large collections of pottery, tin-glazed earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, and glass from around the world.  The entrance fee is 4,50 euros, but they offer a youth discount, so I got in for a clean 3.  We enjoyed a guided tour and it was such a treat to see so many relics formed by hands of centuries past.  We left only after buying lots of fragile souvenirs.  

Here is some of what we saw: 

After the museum, we decided to check out the gothic style Cathédrale St-Etienne, which dominates the landscape of the city.  Of all the French cathedrals we visited, this was definitely our favorite.  The Limoges tradition of art is quite evident inside:

 “The cathedral contains two Renaissance works of great quality: a loft custom made by Bishop John Langeac, and the tomb of this bishop on which are carved scenes of the Apocalypse, inspired by Dürer.  The walls of Romanesque crypt have beautiful frescoes representing Christ in glory. Some medieval paintings are still visible in some chapels (including representatives of angelic musicians) but almost all are frescoes of the 19th century.  The Cathedral of Limoges has two organs. Hauptwerk, which was inaugurated by Gonzalez in 1963 and the Choir organ, installed in 1850.Every summer, the association of the cathedral organizes organ concerts to highlight the major organs of this building.”

 

After a full day talking in the arts of Limoges, we were so hungry.  We forewent the fancy food and stopped off at Speed Rabbit Pizza, a national chain on Place Wilson.  We were amused by some of the pizza names, which were clearly paying homage to the States.  Among others, Speed Rabbit offers pizzas called: Alaska, Harlem, Indiana, Nebraska Beef, and Cooper Mountain.  We decided on the Alsatian- a pizza topped with Creme Fraiche, Mozzarella, cheddar, onions, and double bacon.  Even though it is a chain, it was much better than Domino’s or Pizza Hut.

 Bellies full, we jumped back in our rented Peugeot and hit the road, destination unknown.  

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoges

http://www.ville-limoges.fr/

http://travel.earthtimes.org/travel-to-Limoges-France,94.html

http://www.musee-adriendubouche.fr/

http://www.speedrabbitpizza.com/fr/commander/pizzas

 

 


  

Castres!

After the spooky night in the cemetery, we were ready for something on the mild side. We headed northwest up D612 and 100 km later arrive in Castres, a city of about 45, 000. It is tucked away and quite isolated, the only city of its size in France not connected to an autoroute.

I had my first experience with Occitan, when we came upon a group of old men speaking the language. Occitan is the closest relative of Catalan and spoken by a small number of mostly elderly people in Southern France. It is a dying language, due to native speakers being encouraged through humiliation and ostracism to only speak French. Occitan speakers refer to the effects of the government’s various “anti-patois” policies as la vergonha -which means shame. I was quite happy to have stumbled upon this pocket of French culture and I was also happy to have been introduced to some new music.

Inspired by our new friends, we headed down l’Avenue Charles de Gaull and checked in at L’Occitan, a sleek and bright hotel.  After settling in, we walked down to the Agout River just a few blocks from our hotel.  The river bisects the city and is flanked on either side by houses with colorful facades.  We rented a rowboat and enjoyed the scenery.

 

 

 After our trip on the river, we stopped off to see the Castres Catherdral.  It was very simple compared to other cathedrals we’ve seen, but it was nonetheless ornate and unique.

Our last site was le Musée Goya, a museum named for famous Spanish painter Francisco Goya, which boasts the largest collection of Spanish paintings in France.  

 

 

 

After our long day outdoors, we retired back to the hotel and enjoyed a dinner of “chareuteries des monts de lacaune” (which I think means it was sheep) with our new Occitan speaking friends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castres

http://travel.viamichelin.com/web/Destination/France-Languedoc_Roussillon_Tarn_Gorges-Castres/Tourist_Site-Goya_Museum_Hispanic_Art_-Hotel_de_Ville

http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Occitan/Occitan.html

Béziers!

Saint-Nazaire Cathedral overlooking Pont-canal de l'Orb

Béziers is a spectacular find about 10 km off the Mediterranean in the south of France.  I had previously never heard of this mid sized town of 70,000, and am now quite grateful to have stumbled upon it.  The local economy is heavily based on viticulture and winemaking.  We started our day off with a hearty serving of locally grown grapes and wine!    

The biggest deal every year in Béziers is Feria.  Based on Spain’s corrida, the festival takes place in the middle of August (usually around the 15th) and lasts for four days. Thousands gather to watch young men stand off against beasts in the bullfighting ring.  At night the streets are filled with holiday revelers partying to the wee hours of the morning.  Although Béziers is quite beautiful in spring, we were a little disappointed to not be visiting during Feria.

Above: Feria Bullfighters   Below: Feria Partiers

We decided to maintain the serenity of the morning and visited first Plateau des Poètes around 10h00. It is a huge English style park featuring numerous statues of poets, a fountain of the Titan by Injalbert, and many other works centered around mythology.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen.  So beautiful I'd rather show you the pictures than even try to describe it.

We stopped off at 12, rue Boieldieu in the heart of the city to dine at Restaurant Octopus (at this point I'm choosing eateries based solely on the name).  The menu offered a choice between a la carte items and the “surprise” where the chef serves a several course meal of his choice (In my French travels, these seem to be the typical options).  I played it safe this time and matched Boeuf Wagyu/pommes cheminée, with macaronis céleri /foie gras /truffe ;lait mousseux aux noix grilles.  We heartily enjoyed Babas mandarine  et crème mascarpone vanillée for dessert.  Quite good!

Octopus Dessert

We capped the day at Le Cimetière Vieux (Old Cemetery), created in the 18th century.  Much more that just a cemetery, it is essentially an open-air museum with numerous tombs and works of art by local sculptors, including Jean Magrou and Injalbert (a hometown hero whose works we also saw in the park).   It was like visiting Lenin's Tomb in Russia, only way more artsy and way less gross.  By this time we should have hit the road, especially because visiting hours end at six, but there really was only one thing to do in the midst of all these haunting forms: we decided to spend the night in the cemetery! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9ziers

http://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/Languedoc/city-guides/beziers.php

http://www.beziers-tourisme.fr/

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/48-hours-in/48-hours-in-bziers-1673662.html

http://www.restaurant-octopus.com/

Marseille!

We greeted the day from 71 Boulevard Charles Livon at the New Hotel of Marseille, with an excellent view of the Mediterranean.  Marseille is the second largest (pop 852,395) and oldest city in France. Founded in 600 BC birthplace of my favorite soccer star and headbutter, Zinedine Zindane. Known as “the pink city” it is home to The Marseille-Fos port, the largest port in France, it is a major industrial and international trade hub. Its location has made it a haven for immigrants over the years creating a diverse melting pot of French, Armenians, Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Arabs, Jews, Russians and North Africans.

The day was all about architecture.  We began by taking a ferry a couple miles off shore to Château d'If, a castle completed in 1531 to serve as defense against attacks from the sea.  (Apparently it worked as a deterrent, having never been attacked).  It was later turned in to a prison, a first generation Alcatraz if you will, that became internationally known as the prison to another famous literary character, Edmond Dantès, in The Count of Monte Cristo.  Edmond eventually escaped, but no one in real life has been so fortunate.

After touring the castle, we ferried over to The Phare de Sainte Marie lighthouse.  It stands 70 feet high and made of natural-finished local limestone.  It was built in 1855 to mark the harbor of Marseille. It is now inactive, but quite picturesque in the daytime.

La Vieille Charité, an architecturally significant building designed by the Puget brothers. The structure is made out of the pink and white stones that give Marseille its nickname.  “The central baroque chapel is situated in a courtyard lined with arcaded galleries. Originally built as an alms house, it is now home to an archeological museum and a gallery of African and Asian art, as well as bookshops and a café.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Vieille_Charit%C3%A9) La Vieille Charité was designed by my new favorite architect Pierre Puget, who, if you remember, also designed the retable we saw in the Toulon Cathedral. Marseille was his birthplace, and even has a park named for him.

Santons

Marseille is has much to offer in the area of arts and culture.  The city is famous for its santons, small hand-crafted figurines made for the Provençal Christmas Nativity scene which attracts collectors from all over the world.  On the contemporary side, Marseille has served as the setting to many films including The Bourne Identity, The Transporter, and Love Actually. The city is also known as the birthplace of the hip hop phenomenon in France. Groups such as Fonky Family, 3ème Oeil, and Psy4 de la rime and IAM all originated in Marseille.  We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to immerse ourselves in French rap, and we were quite fortunate, as IAM happened to be playing at Le Dôme de Marseille, an indoor amphitheater, which hosts all of the major musical acts that come through the city.

Amped from the show, we headed back to the hotel to eat at the on site restaurant, Victor Café.  It is an ultramodern space, complete with art gallery.  Chef Jerome Pollo prepared us a meal of pollo Demi Pigeon « miéral » rôti sur toast d’abats, légumes d’automne (roasted pigeon with giblet toast and autumn vegetables).  When I think of pigeons, I think of dirty urban birds, so I had to tell myself that these were delicious “free range” pigeons, that were nothing like their Paris cousins.

With renewed strength we hopped back on the road, taking the long scenic route to Béziers.

http://www.bibalex.org/medcity/Marseilles.htm

http://www.wacra.org/provence.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille

http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/bouches/marseill/marseill.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_d%27If

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/AboutGlasgow/Twincities/marseillesfrance.htm

http://www.newhotel.com/LePharo/fr/visiter.asp?id=03_france_hotel_of_marseille_city_centre_hotel

http://www.victorcafemarseille.com/