BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE is a major rail junction and the nearest thing to an industrial centre for miles around, but it makes an agreeable base for exploring the Corrèze département and its beautiful villages, as well as the upper reaches of the Vézère and Dordogne rivers.Though it has no commanding sights, Brive-la-Gaillarde does have a few distractions. Right in the middle of town is the much-restored church of St-Martin, originally Romanesque in style, though only the transept, apse and a few comically carved capitals survive from that era. St Martin himself, a Spanish aristocrat, arrived in pagan Brive in 407 AD on the feast of Saturnus, smashed various idols and was promptly stoned to death by the outraged onlookers. Numerous streets fan out from the surrounding square, place du Général-de-Gaulle, with a number of turreted and towered houses, some dating back to the thirteenth century. The most impressive is the sixteenth-century Hôtel de Labenche on boulevard Jules-Ferry, now housing the town's archeological finds as well as a collection of seventeenth-century tapestries (daily except Tues: April–Oct 10am–6.30pm; Nov–March 1.30–6pm; €4.50). There's also the Centre National d'Etude Edmond Michelet at 4 rue Champanatier (Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 2–6pm; free), based in the former house of this minister of de Gaulle, and one of the town's leading résistants, with exhibitions portraying the occupation and Resistance through photographs, posters and objects of the time. From the gare SNCF, it's a ten-minute walk north along avenue Jean-Jaurès to the boulevard ringing the old town. A right turn here brings you to place de Lattre-de-Tassigny, with the post office nearby. The tourist office is north of the ring road on place 14-Juillet (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–7pm, Sun 10am–1pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm; tel 05.55.24.08.80), alongside a modern, timber-framed market hall. There are numerous cheap hotels around the station, of which the grand, old Terminus (tel 05.55.74.21.14, fax 05.55.74.03.91; under €30) is the nicest, with its big rooms and high ceilings. Opposite, the Hôtel de France (tel 05.55.74.08.13, fax 05.55.17.04.32; under €30) offers more modern, functional accommodation above its brasserie restaurant (menus from €8). For something smarter, try Le Chapon Fin, on place de Lattre-de-Tassigny (tel 05.55.74.23.40, www.chaponfin-brive.com; €40–55; good restaurant from €12), or the very grand La Truffe Noir, 22 bd Anatole-France (tel 05.55.92.45.00, www.la-truffe-noire.com; €85–100), with a restaurant to match (menus from €23). In addition, there's a decent HI hostel on the other side of town from the train station at 56 av Maréchal-Bugeaud (tel 05.55.24.34.00, [email protected]; closed mid-Dec to mid-Jan), 25 minutes by foot from the gare SNCF, and a campsite, Les Îles (tel 05.55.24.34.74, fax 05.55.17.62.42), across the river. For alternative places to eat, try Le Boulevard at 8 bd Jules-Ferry (closed Sun eve & Mon; menus from €11) or, tucked down an alley near St-Martin, Les Viviers St-Martin, 4 rue Traversière, with a wide range of menus starting at €10. Though you'll have to book ahead, Chez Francis, 61 av de Paris (tel 05.55.74.41.72; closed Sun & Mon), towards the river, is a friendly, cluttered place – with graffiti by visiting artists on walls, ceilings and lampshades and imaginative takes on classic dishes – with two menus at €14 and €21.
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