France: Albi Day 1

 Saturday

We are in Albi for the weekend of the journées européennes du patrimonie and good luck to you if you try to discover online from the various websites what will be open free. Luckily, once in Albi it’s easy to find the brochure with the details but our first stop on this Saturday morning is at the Saturday food market in Place Fernand Pelloutier. The air is so fresh as to be chilly -very pleasant. We get there quite early but it’s already busy. As I expected, prices of fruit and vegetables are expensive by Italian standards although the produce is both fresh and varied. I’m reminded of Sardinia. We also notice that the smaller something is, the more it costs, for example, tiny potatoes that back at home in the mountains would have been given to our neighbour for his pig. 

The price of cheese is also astronomical for our standards, tiny goat cheeses you could eat in just two small bites cost more than Pasticcini in Italy. But the variety and selection is incredible. There are a lot of local producers too. It makes for an interesting hour. We have still got our tiny tomatoes from our vegetable garden in the mountains, the equivalent here cost 12 euros per kilo…But we buy some grapes, prickly pears and some avocados and two portions of the local specialty Aglicot – mashed potatoes mixed with garlic and fresh cheese, the latter costing 6 euros for two generous portions.

After taking it all back to the apartment we head for the Cathedral where the choir, which usually costs 6 euros is open free for the journées européennes du patrimonie.

If it isn’t free you will need to pay to see it, because while the rest of the cathedral is impressive, the choir and its sculptures are really really special and definitely the best part. They opened at 10 and we get there just a few minutes past so it’s still very quiet and we have time to gaze and explore and admire and take photos in peace. 

When we come out, we stop to look at the ceramics market in the square. They are very artistic but the combination of very expensive and very fragile alarms me. Then we to the covered market and have a look at more market stalls of fresh produce in the surrounding streets which are busy with local people buying and tourists looking. It’s soon time to think about lunch, and encouraged by Google map reviews and our experience on Friday we decide to lunch out. After eliminating the places on our short list despite the reviews, either for the choice of the menu del jour or the touristy look to them we settle on Le Solelhou just in front of the Maison du Vieil Alby. Here we have a good confit du canard, a plat du jour I get explained several times without really understanding what’s involved except that there’s ginger and pork meat and a load of vegetables and it’s really very good. This is followed by cafè gourmand – coffee with a selection of desserts for Andrea and a fruits of the forest flan for me. With coffee and a glass of cider for Andrea, I drink water, we spend about 45 euros again and are pleased. The food was good. Time to go back to the apartment for a rest.

When we go out again it’s quite hot and we continue our exploration of Albi. First the church and cloister and garden of Collégiale Saint-Salvi. The church, one of the largest Romanesque churches in the area, is quite bare after the cathedral but nice. It is built of stone below and brick above since building materials changed during the 13th century. The group of wooden sculptures “Christ with vestments” are also interesting. The cloister dates from 1270 and the tiny botanical and vegetable garden in the middle is very well looked after and we spend a while looking at the plants before continuing our stroll around. Just around the corner from the church is Place Saint-Salvi, an attractive square with restaurants where there used to be a market.

From there we walk through Albi’s pleasant streets to Pont du 22 Aout from where there’s an excellent view of Pont Vieux and Albi in general. We walk as far as that bridge, then on the other side visit the cloister and church of the Madeleine where a wedding is in progress. Still on that side we continue to the Passerelle du pont below the railway bridge and come out once again near the tempting Glaces Trempées back in the direction of the cathedral. We are undecided but it’s hot and there are no free tables. Andrea is convinced the Toulouse-Lautrec museum and Palais de la Berbie will be open for the journées européennes du patrimonie. I’m not, since it isn’t specified anywhere.

He’s right, and apart from relinquishing my refillable water bottle at the entrance, we go in. If you are a big fan of the painter Toulouse-Lautrec who was born in Albi, this museum is a must. We are not so it’s nice to save ten euros and still get a peek. Berbie Palace is the former bishop’s palace and part of the Unesco Episcopal City of Albi. We go around the paintings quite quickly, apart from those by Toulouse-Lautrec there are others of the first half of the 20th century, but linger to see some areas of the palace, in particular the views over the garden and Tarn below, the vaulted ceiling with frescoes and others which are painted. It’s interesting, but not on the same scale as the cathedral, the outside of the palace itself, or the gardens.

We stop at the Tourism office in the square for some advice about which places to visit by car near Albi. I had already done some research but it’s nice to get some confirmation. Then it’s getting on for six so we stop to get a couple of things at the Monoprix supermarket and then wander home.