We woke up to another hot and clear day on Wednesday so we spent the morning and early afternoon in the pool. Later that afternoon we decided to follow Christiane’s advice and venture into Albi. So we programmed the GPS for Albi and it took us north along windy country roads. Along the way we were treated to vistas of beautiful fields of sunflowers and lush pastures. We drove through many small villages and noticed that they all had a church as their focal point/hub of the town.
Forty-five minutes later we arrived in Albi and drove to the centre-ville. We parked our car and toured through the narrow streets looking in small shops and patisseries (bakeries). After walking quite a while we came upon Cathedral Ste-Cécile which was the main reason for our visit to Albi. Christiane said that this cathedral was worth the drive and she was right. With the exception of the entrance, the outside of the building wasn’t very elaborate. We were not prepared for the sight that greeted us once we stepped inside. This cathedral was amazing. Rod thought that it was comparable to Paris’ Notre-Dame in its beauty. There were sculptures, walls painted with biblical scenes, carved stone pillars, stained glass windows and elaborately decorated alcoves. The main focal point was the pipe organ located high above the altar. The actual pipes were very large and all around them were cherubs carved from dark wood. The construction and installation of this pipe organ took 30 years. This did not surprise us as we had never seen carving that elaborate. In fact, everywhere you looked, you could see the amazing craftsmanship that went into decorating the cathedral when it was built between 1282 and 1512. The day we were there we heard a small chamber choir performing for the tourists. Their voices blended effortlessly and the sound was carried all through the church.
After touring the cathedral we continued our walking tour through the town. We found a nice restaurant and had another delicious French meal. It was very hot that day and after we ate our dinner Taryn and Rod decided to run through the fountain. Most of the other fountain jumpers were under the age of 5 but this did not seem to bother them.
We drove back to our cottage as the sun was setting.
Forty-five minutes later we arrived in Albi and drove to the centre-ville. We parked our car and toured through the narrow streets looking in small shops and patisseries (bakeries). After walking quite a while we came upon Cathedral Ste-Cécile which was the main reason for our visit to Albi. Christiane said that this cathedral was worth the drive and she was right. With the exception of the entrance, the outside of the building wasn’t very elaborate. We were not prepared for the sight that greeted us once we stepped inside. This cathedral was amazing. Rod thought that it was comparable to Paris’ Notre-Dame in its beauty. There were sculptures, walls painted with biblical scenes, carved stone pillars, stained glass windows and elaborately decorated alcoves. The main focal point was the pipe organ located high above the altar. The actual pipes were very large and all around them were cherubs carved from dark wood. The construction and installation of this pipe organ took 30 years. This did not surprise us as we had never seen carving that elaborate. In fact, everywhere you looked, you could see the amazing craftsmanship that went into decorating the cathedral when it was built between 1282 and 1512. The day we were there we heard a small chamber choir performing for the tourists. Their voices blended effortlessly and the sound was carried all through the church.
After touring the cathedral we continued our walking tour through the town. We found a nice restaurant and had another delicious French meal. It was very hot that day and after we ate our dinner Taryn and Rod decided to run through the fountain. Most of the other fountain jumpers were under the age of 5 but this did not seem to bother them.
We drove back to our cottage as the sun was setting.
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