Limoges

Hard-paste porcelain needs kaolin, and until a deposit was found at Saint-Yrieix near Limoges in 1768 France could not make it; within decades the city had become the national centre, and Limoges porcelain is still made here. The Musee Adrien Dubouche holds one of the largest ceramics collections in the world, tracing the material from China through Europe. Limoges also produced painted enamel on copper from the twelfth century, a technique with its own museum representation. The Benedictins railway station of 1929, with a copper dome and a sixty-metre clock tower, is one of the more extravagant stations in France.

What you actually see

• The Dubouche ceramics museum - a very large porcelain and ceramics collection.
• The Benedictins station - a domed 1929 station with a 60-metre tower.
• The enamel tradition - Limoges painted enamel on copper from the medieval period.
• The Chateau quarter - half-timbered lanes and the butchers' street.

When to go

April to October; the museum closes Tuesdays. Factory shops and some workshops run visits on weekdays. Autumn is quiet and pleasant.

Honest expectations

Working factories mostly show shops rather than production. Much porcelain sold as Limoges is decorated locally on imported blanks, so ask about the mark. The city is workaday outside the old quarters.

Nearby

Lake Vassiviere lies east; Oradour-sur-Glane is northwest.