Arrived In Time : Albi, France Part 2

Yesterday morning, we visited the gothic cathedral St. Cecile of Albi. This is the cathedral that we could see last evening from the bridge (the pont vieux) perched high on a hill above the River Tarn, and is quite different from other cathedrals we have visited.

Built in the 13th century in the heart of Cathar country, St. Cecile is the largest brick building in the world. It is no accident that it looks more like a fortress than a cathedral.

St. Cecilia in Albi was built as a defensive fortress and statement of strength after the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229), a holy war waged by the Catholic Church against the heretical Cathars and the count of Toulouse.

Construction on Albi Cathedral began in 1282 under the direction of Bernard de Castanet (1277-1307), who was Bishop of Albi and Chief Inquisitor. Construction was mostly done by 1383, but the cathedral was not fully complete until 1492.

Entrance to the cathedral

Because of the strong, fortress-like exterior of the cathedral, you might expect the interior to be plain and practical. However, such is not the case. Art abounds in the side chapels, walls, and ceiling vaults and sculptures are found on many of the pillars.

One of the things I liked most about this cathedral is that it is not crowded. When we went up the steps to view the "treasures" of the cathedral, Dan and I were by ourselves.

Most of the cathedrals that I have visited have an area where they keep special "treasures". Often times, these treasures are reliquaries or containers for relics of saints. This one contains a bone of some saint. I remember my fourth grade teacher, Mother Florence, kept a relic of St. Dominic Savio around her neck. So after the saint dies, do they immediately go for the body parts? I thought it took a long time to be declared a "saint". Not sure how all that works. Just a little strange.

A tryptic in the "treasures" gallery

Lots of bricks

Right next to the cathedral is the Toulouse Lautrec Museum. The Musee Toulouse-Lautrec is a museum dedicated mainly to the work of the painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and is located in the Palais de la Berbie, formerly the Bishops' Palace.

The museum houses over 1,000 works by Toulouse-Lautrec, the largest collection in the world. It is based on a donation by Toulouse-Lautrec's mother after his death in 1901.

After I snapped this photo below, I was told that I could not take photos in the museum. Usually there are signs in museums indicating photos or no photos, but I didn't see one.

Toulouse Lautrec, who only lived to be 36 years old, was a French painter, printmaker, and illustator, whose immersion in the theatrical life of Paris in the late 1800s yielded a collection of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern and sometimes decadent life of those times.

For images, follow this link:
Images from Musee Toulouse-Lautrec

One of my favorite parts of the museum is the gardens with the view of the River Tarn and the bridges. You walk outside and there it is!

Time to go. What a magnificent place to visit!

The next part of our visit was going to be Carcassone, a walled city within an hour's drive of Albi. However, we took the long way, which took us through some small villages and countryside along the way.

When we arrived in Carcasonne, it was pouring rain and the wind was so strong, it blew my hat off my head. And that's with the hat being tied under my chin. So we decided to head to Narbonne, our next stop.

When we arrived at the hotel, we found it to be quite different from the one in Albi and quite reasonably priced! This is the Clarion Suites in Narbonne, France. We decided to stay more than one night and return to Carcassone on Sunday when it is expected to be sunny and warmer.

Our dinner was at Bistro Flo's and was really good, but too much food.

Dan had Veal Milanese with carmelized onions, tomatoes grilled on the vine, and other vegetables. He gave me his onions and they were magnificent. Too bad onions don't agree with him.

I had roast duck with a potato cream cake. I couldn't even eat half the duck-mostly because I wanted to save room for dessert.

A bite missing before the photo. It was a chocolate lava ganache with vanilla ice cream, pistachio cookie, and vanilla rum sauce with something pistachio under the rum sauce. Quite tasty!