Haute-Vienne represents a French department which name comes from the Vienne River. It along with two other departments forms the French region Nouvelle Aquitaine.
Town property guides
Climate:
In the summer the temperatures are pretty high reaching 25 °C and compared with the other regions the climate is milder. It is quite cold in the winter with a lot of snow.
Geography:
The largest and major town in the department is Limoges and all the other towns have less than 20,000 inhabitants.
Limousin is part of central France and is ideal if you are looking for tranquility. There are wooden hills with churches, castles and villages all around. There are also a lot of rivers and lakes perfect for water sport and fishing.
The other name for this territory is France profonde or the heartland of France. Here, property and living costs are quite cheaper and there are not many foreigners but a lot of tourists are attracted.
The Haute-Vienne is mainly agricultural. It is divided into two parts by the Vienne River that in the middle splits into another river the Isle. The Vienne River joints another two rivers Maulde and Taurion . There are some other important rivers like Dordogne, Vienne, Creuse and Cher.
One of the tourist places is the Lake of Vassivière with its area of 1100 hectares. This region is an upland area with the lowest lands being in the north-west that are approximately 250 m above sea level. T he highest in the south-east or this is approximately 1000 m above sea level . But as a whole the majority of the region is above 350m. The highest point is in the southeast and it is 2549ft. The Department of Haute-Vienne is positioned on the western part of Limousin that is on the northwestern slopes of the Massif Central .
The countryside is hilly and wooden that is perfect for breeding cattle. The area has a rich cultural and historical heritage with very well preserved abbeys and Roman churches like Soulignac and Chateauponsac and fortified castles like Chalus and Montbrun .
Towns:
The principle industry is porcelain that is mainly manufactured in Limoges.
The most famous building in the city is the Cathedral St-Etienne that is built after a model of the cathedral at Amiens that is one of the few gothic churches on the south of Loire. There is held the Festival International des Francophones and many writers, dramatists and musician gather. Also every January there is a contemporary dance festival and on the third Friday of October the vegetarians make exodus and everybody goes to the rules de la Boucherie to gorge on pig’s trotters, sheep’s testicals and all sorts of charming offal.
History:
The name of Limoges has been connected with the fine porcelain since 1770’s when the European artists started copying the Chinese techniques. There are many crafts in the museums but the kaolin mines are exhausted and there is almost no industry on the ground.
The best way to look around the area is the take a drive around. You will have a look at the Oradour sur Glane that has remnants from World War 2.
Gastronomy:
Limousin is knows as a gastronomic desert as compared to the other parts of France. Four of the restaurants in the regions have Michelin stars and these are Le Chateau de la Cazine in La Souterraine, L’Amphityron, rue de la Boucherie, Limoges and La Chapelle Saint Martin, Nieul got stars for the first time and the restaurant Au Moulin de la Gorce of La Roche L’Abeille kept the star that it already had.
Useful information:
Tourism office in Nouvelle Aquitaine:
www.francetourism.com
www.limousin-on-line.info
www.tourismelimousin.com
Maps of Nouvelle Aquitaine:
www.ign.fr
www.maps.google.fr
Travel from the UK
By air: Ryanair flies to Limoges from London Stansted, East Midlands airport and Liverpool.
Our team of sale advisers at Sextant Properties will be happy to help you to find a property in Haute-Vienne. We have a large network of estate agents in Haute-Vienne. All of them are registered French estate agents and speak both French and English. Whatever kind of property you are looking for: farmhouse, barn, gite, B&B, country house, mill, castle or chateau, we will do our best to find a property in Haute-Vienne matching your requirements. To find out more about our properties for sale in Haute-Vienne do not hesitate to contact us.