Like this:

 Overlooking the Tarn.

I was interested in visiting Albi because of Toulouse-Lautrec, who was born here on November 24, 1864.   A museum featuring many of his early drawings and paintings are housed in the former archbishop’s palace, the Palais de la Berbie, which was built during the 13th century.  It was a museum I did not want to miss during our stay in Southern France.  

The city of Albi, a university town and prefecture of Tarn, is now one of our favourite French cities.  Bill described it as a “mini-Paris.” No doubt, sitting on a sunny Saturday afternoon at an outdoor cafe, eating an excellent French lunch and sipping “vin rouge” added to the experience – but the city has a prosperous, artistic/cultural atmosphere filled with fascinating cathedrals, museums and wonderful shops.

We parked our little Renault Clio underground parking lot below the Covered Market (much like the Granville Market but with stalls where you can try local wines!!)  where classical music plays through the speakers and each parking space is numbered and painted with great care and detail. 

The Toulouse Lautrec museum was an impressive site and the formal maze garden behind the palace overlooking the Tarn River added to the ambience.

But the city’s most impressive site is the red-bricked Cathedrale of Sainte Cecile, which dominates the old city’s centre. It is a massive building, constructed from 1282 to 1480,  built in the wake of the Albigensian heresy of the Cathars and the brutal crusade brought against it.

 Cathedrale

If you haven’t read Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth (available at your local public library), this crusade, lead by Simon de Montfort (think Atilla the Hun and Hitler as this guy’s “nicer and kinder” compatriots of cruelty) , involved the burning of 400 Cathares. In the aftermath of the bloodshed, the cathedral’s presence was intended to bear testimony to the Catholic faith, and its fortress-like exterior likely reflects this. It is one of the most visited cathedrals in France.

Inside the cathedral, the vault and walls were painted in 1512 and the endless, intricate, stone work and sculptures were completed around the Great Choir in 1485. The Last Judgement was painted at the end of the 15th century. 

 Stonework

We can understand why this is one of the most visited cathedrals in France.  The years of human artistic endeavour displayed in this one edifice is simply mind-boggling.

But there is an irony about the city of Albi that I haven’t quite figured out. On one hand, it celebrates the very short life (37 years) of one of France’s “best known” modern artists in a massive Palais.  Right next door, the Cathedral houses thousands upon thousands of hours of intricate, complicated artwork completed over centuries by hands and eyes no less talented than Lautrec’s, yet not one individual artist is recognized. 

What’s it all about? Not too sure, but we do know that Albi is about art and religion and culture and it is an amazingly vibrant, sophisticated city. 

 Chocolatier

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