Mainly, we were simply looking forward to getting out into the countryside, and having a car allowed us to cover a lot of territory and experience some vistas unavailable on the train. The pass we drove today that overlooks Mazamet, for example, reminded us of the North Cascades Highway drive we took last fall.
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| Mazamet from turn off on D118. This was the drive that reminded us of the North Cascades Loop we took in October. |
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| The road winds its way up the mountain and along a ridge at a 7% grade in some places. |
Albi is a big city, but even so, St. Cecile's dominates. The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum next door used to be the bishop's palace. Note how imposing it is.
Although we didn't take in the museum, we did have a fabulous lunch again, and that's important to us, because it's our main meal of the day.
And you'll see we did manage to walk old town, enjoy some of the scenery, and be blown away by the cathedral.
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| Nave. Pulpit to the left and organ above current altar. The structure is massive—255 feet high, 114 feet wide, and 372 feet long. And it's as imposing outside as it is inside. |
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| Pulpit |
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| Mosaic ceiling in nave. |
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| Current altar forward. Original altar is through arch and set way back, of course. Last Judgment painting on the rounded walls on either side of the arch date back to 1474. |
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| Main organ above the current altar. |
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| Nave looking back to choir screen. |
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| Choir screen. |
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| Main entrance. |
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| And who doesn't like a gargoyle? |
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| This is Ivan the owner of Le Papillon, and if you're ever in Albi, we suggest having the plat du jour for lunch. DEE-lish! |
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| Even the coffee cup and saucer were stylish. |
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| Garden at the entrance to the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. |
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| St. Cecile's dominates old town. |
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| Not kidding, the iStore is up the street from St. Cecile's. |
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| Marie and her new best friend. |
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| Those are not bowling balls behind Marie. Nice pedestrian friendly touch. |
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| Both Old and New Bridges from Bishop's garden. |
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| Aude River spillway. |
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| Pont View (Old Bridge) was built in 1040 and has been in continuous use ever since. |
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| Some guy looking for trouble. |
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| Bishop's palace. Imposing isn't it? Ya, it makes a statement on purpose. Today it's the Toulouse Lautrec Museum. I love the irony of what this structure was and how it's used now. Dead clergy everywhere must be rolling in their graves. |
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| Bishop's Palace garden. |
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| Passage way to the back of Bishop's Palace to a view of garden. Two siblings racing and chasing around the narrow way between the Palace and Cathedral. |
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| Bishop's Palace/Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. Yes, all of this structure and more you can't see, are part of it. |
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| Bishop's garden is adjacent to Aude River, walled to keep the riffraff out, and surrounded by four turrets in each corner to guard the hedges I guess. Note the other church across the river in the background. |
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| Wisteria growing in garden that is part of the original rampart to the walled city. |
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