When you think of the Limousin, you think of chateaus and lakes, museums and gastronomy. After all, this is where the prized Limousin cattle were first bred and beautiful hand-painted porcelain is crafted. But the Limousin is fast developing a reputation for innovation of a different kind, with a number of startups making the relaxed and beautiful centre of France their home.
And no wonder. The Limousin has low unemployment, excellent transport links to Paris and a bustling airport. But it may soon be the world pioneer for subsonic transport.
The hyperloop dream
Elon Musk and Richard Branson have both dreamed of hurtling passengers around the world at 1,000km/h but it’s Canadian startup Transpod who could make the dream a reality. Entrepreneurs from the Haute-Vienne region lobbied the company to choose their region as the base of the longest hyperloop test track in the world. Currently, Limoges to Paris takes 2 hours via the ultra high speed LGV. The hyperloop would cut that journey time to a matter of minutes.
With planning permission now in place the track will be built in the tiny village of Dreux just to the north of Limoges. Hyperloop travel to Paris could soon be a reality for Limogeans, with work on the test tunnel due to start in early 2019. Not to be outdone SNCF, the French national rail company, are all set to bring the regional rail network across the Nouvelle Aquitaine region up to speed with a Euro 485 million investment.
Flying high
Bellegarde airport in Limoges became British Airways third route to France from Gatwick in 2017 and offers fast and frequent flights all over France and beyond. Escape to the fabulous Cape Verde islands from your holiday homes in Limoges or pop across to the gastronomic capital of France in Lyon. With flights from several UK destinations now year-round, Limoges is a well developed central hub for high speed transport around France and the rest of Europe.
Halcyon developments can offer you a wonderful selection of holiday homes with fractional ownership near glorious Limoges. With its excellent transport links and reputation as a high tech hotbed, Limoges is a great place to invest in holiday homes with returns.
