 There
are very few large towns in the Limousin although the
countryside is dotted with charming, authentic little
villages and, the legacy of the 'builder monks' and
the masons of the Creuse, castles, manors, Romanesque
abbeys and churches, often concealing elaborate enamelled
casks, finely wrought altar-pieces and stained glass.
 The
region was at its best between the X and XIII centuries
when the great chateaux and fortified towns were built,
and the abbeys and churches were endowed. No region
in France had more saints or more sacred waters and
the 'Ostensions', the septennial parade of relics through
the streets of every village and town, are unique in
France. The pilgrim road to Compostela is still signalled
by its emblem, the shell of St Jacques (Santiago).
 The
region is of course world-renowned for the porcelain
and enamels of Limoges and the tapestries of Aubusson
and has been the subject of many artists, most famously
perhaps the Ecole de Crozant, the name covering all
the impressionist painters inspired by the beautiful
gorges along the Creuse river. Many other contemporary
applications of traditional decorative arts, crafts
and industries are still thriving, among them weaving,
haute couture, pottery and goldsmithing.
The Limousin people are loyal, compassionate, hospitable
and trustworthy. They have also produced their fair
share of talent for France. Masons from the Creuse built
Notre Dame. the Louvre, the Pantheon and the Odeon.
Carnot,the organiser of the French revolutionary army
came from Limoges as did Jourdan, the only Marshal to
follow Napoleon into exile; Dupuytren and Gay-Lussac,
chemists and inventors, were both from the Limousin
as was of course Auguste Renoir and one of today's most
fashionable haut couturiers, Castel-Bajac.
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