Collonges-la-Rouge

Curemonte

In the south of Limousin, the massif of Les Monédières has had a fiery history. Julius Caesar, out of patience with the local Resistance,
burned the forests over a period of several months. Medieval monks patiently replanted the trees a thousand years later, but in the
16th century its owner, Baron Louis de Pompadour, burnt it all again to drive away the invading Huguenots. In pretty villages like Chaumeil
a few ancient stones remain; from the height of Suc au May the progress of reforestation can be observed.

Chaumeil

Lubersac

The strange little church at Lubersac dates from the 11th and 12th centuries. Its sanctuary has three rounded apses,
each highly decorated with ornaments and carvings. The altar with its cross and the capital  are both, surprisingly,
on the outside of the building. Here, on the boundary between Corrèze and Haute-Vienne, is a country of little villages
with enormous castles – Pompadour, Ségur, Jumilhac, Château-Chervix – protecting the rich fertile plains from the
depredations of the mountain folk

Pompadour

Arnac-Pompadour boasts a fine castle, a National Stud and a racetrack.
Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, was married to the Marquis de Pompadour but quite probably never visited here.