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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 Correze departement and its beautiful villages, as well as the upper reaches of the Vezere 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 General-de-Gaulle , with a number of turreted and towered houses, some dating back to the thirteenth century. The most impressive is the sixteenth-century Hotel 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; rest of year 1.30-6pm; 27F/?4.12). There is 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 resistants , 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-Jaures to the boulevard ringing the old town. A left turn here brings you to the pleasant square Auboiroux, with the post office nearby. The tourist office is north of the ring road on place 14-Juillet (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2-7pm, Sun 10am-1pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9am-noon & 2-6pm; tel 05.55.24.08.80, fax 05.55.24.58.24), alongside a modern, timber-framed market. There are numerous cheap hotels around the station, of which the grand, old Hotel Terminus (tel 05.55.74.21.14; under 160F/?24) is the nicest, with its big rooms and high ceilings. Opposite, the Hotel de France (tel 05.55.74.08.13, fax 05.55.17.04.32; under 160F/?24) offers more modern, functional accommodation above its brasserie restaurant (menus from 55F/?8.38). For something smarter, try Le Chapon Fin , near square Auboiroux (tel 05.55.74.23.40, fax 05.55.23.42.52; 220-300F/?34-46; good restaurant from 75F/?11.43), or the very grand La Truffe Noir , 22 bd Anatole-France (tel 05.55.92.45.00, fax 05.55.92.45.13, www.la-truffe-noire.com ; 500-600F/?76-91), with a restaurant to match (menus from 140F/?21.34). In addition, there's a decent HI hostel on the other side of town from the train station at 56 av Marechal-Bugeaud (tel 05.55.24.34.00, fax 05.55.74.82.80), 25 minutes by foot from the gare SNCF , and a campsite , Les Iles (tel 05.55.24.34.74), across the river. For alternative places to eat , try Le Boulevard at 8 bd Jules-Ferry (closed Sun evening & Mon; menus from 65F/?9.91) or, tucked down an alley near St-Martin, Les Viviers St-Martin , 4 rue Traversiere, with a wide range of menus starting at 59F/?8.99. Though you'll have to book ahead, Chez Francis , 61 av de Paris (tel 05.55.74.41.72; closed Sun), towards the river, is a friendly, cluttered place - with graffiti by visiting artists on walls, ceilings and lampshades and imaginative takes on classic dishes - menus start at 85F/?12.96.
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