First Impressions

Having enjoyed our first and brief impression of Limoges we headed east to find the guest house we had booked in Chiessoux, near Lake Vassiveiere and having driven for 30minutes I realised we had not encountered another car either way. The peace and serenity had even imposed itself upon my our driving speed and I was at a slow 50 kmh.

We meandered through the country side and past fir tree forests and wood piles on a crisp, cold but bright morning with some snow on the ground. This seemed like bliss and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing when we came across Lake Vassiveiere. Wow!!!

First Foot Forward

With this in mind we booked an exploratory trip to Limousin on 14th February 2004, during the half term holiday.

We set out straight after Joshua had finished school and ventured down to Dover, across on the Eurotunnel and into France as a family on the adventure together.

The trip was easy and uneventful, EXCEPT the troubling encounter in the dark around the Paris Peripherique, which would prove problematic for a few more journeys.

We arrived at the Service Area on the A20 north of Limoges at 3.30am to grab a few hours sleep. It was very cold that night and some snow had settled on the ground, but we were not alone, as many other drivers had decided to do the same. We eventually ventured into Limoges and found the magnificent railway station there at 6:00am to freshen up and get a wonderful coffee before most people had risen.