Albi seeing you

The skyline of Albi is dominated by its massive cathedral.

A dozen years ago, my husband and I took our first trip to France together, and since we decided to make France our home two years later, I consider that vacation to have been successful. We based ourselves in Toulouse and visited several other cities by train. The day we spent in Albi back then was one of our favorite memories, and we always intended to return. 

Albi's Sainte-Cécile Cathedral is the largest brick church in France.

Because of its vibrant colors, Sainte-Cécile Cathedral
in Albi is my favorite church.

Earlier this month, we made that happen, and our fond memories of La Cité épiscopale d'Albi certainly held up. This time, we revisit some sites that surpass our first impressions, especially the beautiful interior of Cathedral Sainte-Cécile, where we sit for a half-hour gazing at the two hectares of painted surfaces. The cathedral is France's largest brick church.

Palais de la Berbie in Albi contains the famous Toulouse-Lautrec
Museum. The artist was born in Albi in 1864.

On our previous trip to Albi we visited the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, housed in the Berbie Palace. The museum contains the world's largest collection of artwork by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, an Albi native. This time, we skip the museum and take a self-guided walking tour across the Tarn River via le Pont-Vieux. The bridge is nearly 1,000 years old and played an important part in Albi's commercial prosperity in the Middle Ages.  

A walking tour of Albi includes crossing the Tarn River
to see old Albigensian mills.

Albi's covered market hall, the Halle du Castelviel,
is a "Baltard" style pavilion built in 1903.

This bronze statue of Joan of Arc stands in Albi.

Le Parc Rochegude in Albi contains elements of French and
English gardens, as well as a garden of scents and a bird island.

The striking colombage Maison Enjalbert in Albi
was built in the 16th century.

Albi was once the capital of Gallo-Roman Albigenses and its history is steeped in religion and religious conflict. It's a beautiful city, full of red brick and colombage structures. It contains plenty of lively bars and restaurants and squares for relaxing and people-watching. For our purposes, we've chosen Albi to be our base for exploring some nearby villages in the Tarn, which is the topic of my next blog post.

We couldn't have asked for better weather than we had for our return to Albi.

By bike or car, check out this art in the Dropt Valley

For this cairn in Lauzun, artist Xarli Zurell drew upon
memories of the mountains of his native Basque region.

When the pile of painted rocks appeared at our village park, I was curious. It turns out that the rocks are part of an exhibition sponsored by the Pays de Lauzun and Duras tourism offices. Similar to an exhibit a few years back when a wooden cabin was plopped down by the lake, the exhibition invites folks to visit several locations in the area, and to check out a variety of unusual artworks. 

La Traversée (relevé Lauzunais) by Xarli Zurell
can be seen at the lake in Lauzun.

This year's exhibition, L'art Voyageur en Vallée du Dropt, is situated along the Dropt Valley cycle route No. 8. There are nine stops, with Lauzun at one end and Duras at the other. 

The Moulin du Dropt in Monteton is the location of a collection
of sculptures naturelles by the Collectif Prise de Terre. 

Droptear, les larmes du Dropt seem to be
tears along the river in Monteton.

Way too hot and a little too far to tackle à vélo, we decide to take a morning drive and find as many of the pieces as we can. It seems easy enough, but some of the art is a little hard to find. 

The old market hall in Allemans-du-Dropt is the setting for Blé,
paintings by artist Mickaëlle Delamé. 

This exhibit in Allemans-du-Dropt is appropriately entitled Blé (wheat). 

This fiber installation is located along the ancient Roman
bridge in La Sauvetat-du-Dropt/Agnac.

Artist Sarah Wjuniski created Le pont tricoté in La-Sauvetat-du-Dropt.

We missed three of the nine: The sculpture located at Moulin de Cocusotte is open only afternoons. This is also the only site that charges, although I heard the 4-euro entry provides admission all season long. The paintings at Église Sainte Laurent in Bourgougnague can only be seen on Fridays and weekends. And we never did find the site in Pardaillan. 

A team of artists created the stained-glass windows of 
Église Sainte Marie in Miramont-de-Guyenne.

Vitraux remarquables can be seen
every day at Église Sainte Marie in
Miramont-de-Guyenne

With a little help from staff at Château du Duras, we found this
installation by Guilhem Roubichou.

Artist Guilhem Roubichou explores cultural and social issues in 
his work Amalgame #2 in Duras.

The exhibition L'art Voyageur en Vallée du Dropt can be seen until June 30, 2022. For information, visit paysdelauzun.com or tourismeduras.com or click here.