Lake Vassiviere

Vassiviere was created between 1947 and 1950 by damming the Maulde for hydroelectricity, flooding about a thousand hectares of the Limousin plateau at around six hundred and fifty metres and leaving a lake with a much-indented shore and around seventy small islands. The largest, the Ile de Vassiviere, is reached by a causeway and holds a centre for contemporary art in a building by Aldo Rossi and Xavier Fabre, with a lighthouse-like tower, and a sculpture park where about seventy works are placed through woodland and open ground. Around the lake are beaches, sailing bases and a marked path of roughly twenty-seven kilometres.

What you actually see

• The sculpture park - about seventy outdoor works through island woodland.
• The art centre - a Rossi and Fabre building with a tower on the island.
• The indented shore - a reservoir with many bays and small islands.
• The lake circuit - a marked path of about twenty-seven kilometres.

When to go

May to September for swimming, sailing and the art centre's main season; the sculpture park is open year-round and free. Autumn colour on the plateau is good. Winter is cold and wet.

Honest expectations

The art centre closes some days and between exhibitions. The plateau climate is wet and cool even in summer. Facilities around the lake are seasonal.

Nearby

Limoges lies west; the Millevaches plateau surrounds it.