Albi
Watching the Tour de France about ten years ago, the Tour had gone through Albi en route to Montpellier. Impressed with the helicopter views from the TV of Albi, we downloaded the Albi app and it immediately went on the “to visit” list.
Subsequently we discovered the author Peter May. His investigator character Enzo Macleod is based in Cahors, enjoys the wines of Gaillac, journeys to Albi , all as he solves one mystery after another. His books give great descriptions of the area, for us now a must visit and we spent 10 days there based in Albi in September 2017.
We flew into Toulouse from Manchester, rental car and a straightforward 65kms later, we arrived at Albi. We had a stunning AirBNB on the north side of the Tarn river looking down and across the river to the Cathedral of St Cecile.
Cathedral St. Cecile, Berbie Palace and Museum Toulouse- Lautrec
Dominating not just Albi itself but also the countryside far and wide, is the Cathedral St. Cecile. Together with the adjoining Berbie Palace and Museum Toulouse- Lautrec they form the heart of Albi.
France is a country of amazing church architecture. But nothing can prepare you for the first time that you see St Cecile, be it from the Toulouse Motorway turnoff, from across the river Tarn or up close and in person.
It’s the brick exterior of the worlds largest brick building, which is just awe inspiring, until you go inside and are utterly overwhelmed by the majesty of the interior.
Building of the brick Cathedral started in 1282 and was completed in 1482. Part of the post Cathar cleansing of those times it was built upon earlier structures and dominates by its presence to leaving no one any misunderstanding of the power that it represented.
Any lingering doubts of the power and influence of the Catholic Church in the 15th century would have been dispelled with the Italian Renaissance inspired interior. No photographs can do just justice to either interior or exterior – if you are anywhere in the south of France, do try to visit, you will not be disappointed.
We found Albi another great “ wandering town”, lots of places to explore, Le Couvert les Halles, the Saturday street market, some lovely local restaurants and even an excellent gentlemen’s hairdresser- great fun and only French spoken!
For restaurants, and these will change hands from time to time, but in the Place du Cloitre Saint Salvi we found a lovely open air location and great food. The best restaurant we found was a ten minute walk from our AirBNB – Le Jardin des Quatre Saisons- it was so good we went twice!!!
Gaillac
25kms west of Albi along the Tarn River lies the town of Gaillac, the name of which is also the wine appellation AOC. Wines from the region are not that well known and have a number of unique grape varieties. Peter Mays book, “ The Critic” gives wonderful descriptions of the vines, the wines and the area in general. We spent our time in Gaillac at the Maison des Vins – very educational – and the Abbaye Saint- Michel – just lovely.
This grape variety took mine and Peter Mays fancy :-
LE LEN DE L’EL (OU LOIN DE L’ŒIL)
(ou Len de l’El)
Origin: old grape variety of Gaillac, its origin and the time it was planted in the wine-growing region remain a mystery. It’s original name, Loin de l’Œil (literally translated “far from the eye”), is derived from the fact that the long-stemmed cluster is located far away from the bud, which produces the grape.
Characteristics: strong and productive, these grapes ripen early. They make wonderful dry white wine and prove to be an important asset in making dessert wine such as the Gaillac “late harvest” wine. They especially like deep soil and are mainly grown in the region of Gaillac.
Tasting: dry, subtle white wine that is fragrant and not very acidic. Sweet white wine with flavours of tropical fruit, dried fruit and honey.
Ambialet
25ms east from Albi is the village of Ambialet, seemingly encircled by the river Tarn , complete with Castle, Hydro dam, a variety of good walks and great views. We completed two walks at Ambialet, very pretty Village and highly enjoyable .
River Lot , Bouziès and return walk to Saint Cirque Lapopie
Bouziès and Saint Cirque Lapopie was a bit of a drive, maybe 1 hour 45 mins north from Albi, but an amazing place that we had been recommended to check out. We made it into a full days trip to allow time to check out an ancient walking trail along the River Lot – Bouziès to Saint Cirque Lapopie, then on to Chateau du Cedres a Cahors winery, beautiful Malbec wines that we know from New Zealand imbibing.
We parked at Bouziès , good parking by the river Lot, kids playground, access to leisure boats, great toilets, and then walked along the river bank – lovely wooded areas with sculptures. The path then comes to the rivers edge and as the pictures show above either uses a natural shelf in the limestone or one cut by man into it – probably a combo of the two. Anyway it’s pretty impressive not just as access but as a viewing point to the valley.
You join a road and have a few options to access Saint Cirque Lapopie which sits high above the river valley. We chose a scramble rocky path up through the trees, which gave some great views and emerged out at the top of the village.
When we left the village for the return walk to Bouziès we followed the road back down to the river and looped back. Saint Cirque Lapopie is a wonderful find.
It is one of the “ Les Plus Beaux Villages”, which in itself will guarantee a few visitors. By virtue of its location on the top of the hill above the valley the village is not that easy to get to but the effort does reward. We had a bit of a grey day there and with a few showers of rain. We sheltered by the Tourist Office, enjoyed our sandwiches and the views over the village houses and valley below. The walk back to Bouziès was delightful, a great trip that just needed a visit to a winery to complete.
Travels with My Wife 