Friday 21st May
Albi to Gaillac
Lulu is coming to stay with us this weekend on her way to a girl’s week of culture near Uzes. So we were in two minds about going to visit the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition in the Bishops Palace in case she would like to do it on Sunday.
Just to demonstrate how enormous it is, this is the top of the cathedral from behind some houses down by the river.
The Bishop's palace - all part of the UNESCO site.
Looking over the Bishop's gardens north across the Tarn.
However we decided that it probably wouldn’t hurt to see it twice so before leaving Albi went to have a look.
Having only known TL as a 4’ 10’’ cartoonist whose work decorated school study walls we were fascinated to learn that he painted a number of extremely accomplished pictures in oils starting almost from when he was able to pick up a paintbrush and amongst his favourite subjects was not Parisian life, but horses and hunting scenes. The exhibition is huge and he must have sketched and painted at a prodigious rate. After his death his work was offered to the Louvre in Paris but they declined to accept it, so it was given to the museum in Albi (where he came from) and is a great asset to the town like the Cathedral and the river.
We left Albi at about noon and headed west across the most beautiful countryside although one has to admit that cycling in nothing other than sandals and cycling shorts may be a contributing factor to the enjoyment. We pray fervently that this weather will hold until after Lulu’s trip!
We were following one of the many signed routes for bikes and they take you along lovely rural roads with no traffic, mostly along the banks of Tarn. The gardens are full of Irises and Roses and it is serious hay making time in the fields so there is a wonderful scent of new cut hay. We had bought a picnic before leaving so all that we needed now was a pleasant riverside spot to stop and eat it, which was easy. In the afternoon we passed several lakes where the sound of the frogs seemed to be getting louder and louder until eventually there was nothing for it but to video the bulrushes and hope that the singing frogs could be heard. I can’t actually hear them saying Bud – Wise – Errrrr, but I’m sure that if they could they would have. Singing Frog Video!
The very tall tower at Marsac sur Tarn. We still don't know what it's purpose is!
The instructions from the B&B we are booked into, were to get to the MacDonald’s roundabout and give them a call. But at lunchtime I noticed my back tyre looking suspiciously as though it was wearing out so we stopped in a bike shop in Gaillac where the tyre was declared ‘mort’. Vivi being such a lightweight hers of course was fine!
Rather appropriately this appeared in a shop window and could be the reason why I needed a new tyre. We guess they are Antipodean due to the van but Harry, Ferg or George will know!
Before I had time to even consider the options my bike was on the car equivalent of a ramp the back wheel was off and the tyre being removed from it. Within 25 minutes we were back on the road again. I’m certain if you took a bike into a store in England they would say OK can you come back in a week!
The shop also Googled the address of our B&B and showed us how to get there so no need for a MacDonald cry for help, and in minutes we were standing outside the most lovely French Farmhouse introducing ourselves to the most charming couple who welcomed us so warmly we began to wonder if we’d stayed with them on our way down France 6 months ago.
Our wing of the farmhouse where we B&B'd - early morning sunshine.
We had our own kitchenette and as the house was a kilometre or two outside of Gaillac we returned to the Le Clerc where we were so impressed that we became befuddled and ended up buying ourselves a 4 course dinner. Up to this point of the trip our carbon footprint has been pretty low, but all those micro-waveable cartons can’t do the world much good! We almost over-dosed on the asparagus that we had been wanting so badly. We had a lovely swim and then for almost the first time since leaving home 8 months ago we sat outside in balmy heat eating our supper. They supplied us with a very nice bottle of the local Gaillac Rose too.
There was a family of tree creepers going up and down some trees outside our window, and the noise the frogs made was so bad that to get any sleep we had to keep our bedroom window closed!
Albi to Gaillac
Lulu is coming to stay with us this weekend on her way to a girl’s week of culture near Uzes. So we were in two minds about going to visit the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition in the Bishops Palace in case she would like to do it on Sunday.
Just to demonstrate how enormous it is, this is the top of the cathedral from behind some houses down by the river.
The Bishop's palace - all part of the UNESCO site.
Looking over the Bishop's gardens north across the Tarn.
However we decided that it probably wouldn’t hurt to see it twice so before leaving Albi went to have a look.
Having only known TL as a 4’ 10’’ cartoonist whose work decorated school study walls we were fascinated to learn that he painted a number of extremely accomplished pictures in oils starting almost from when he was able to pick up a paintbrush and amongst his favourite subjects was not Parisian life, but horses and hunting scenes. The exhibition is huge and he must have sketched and painted at a prodigious rate. After his death his work was offered to the Louvre in Paris but they declined to accept it, so it was given to the museum in Albi (where he came from) and is a great asset to the town like the Cathedral and the river.
We left Albi at about noon and headed west across the most beautiful countryside although one has to admit that cycling in nothing other than sandals and cycling shorts may be a contributing factor to the enjoyment. We pray fervently that this weather will hold until after Lulu’s trip!
We were following one of the many signed routes for bikes and they take you along lovely rural roads with no traffic, mostly along the banks of Tarn. The gardens are full of Irises and Roses and it is serious hay making time in the fields so there is a wonderful scent of new cut hay. We had bought a picnic before leaving so all that we needed now was a pleasant riverside spot to stop and eat it, which was easy. In the afternoon we passed several lakes where the sound of the frogs seemed to be getting louder and louder until eventually there was nothing for it but to video the bulrushes and hope that the singing frogs could be heard. I can’t actually hear them saying Bud – Wise – Errrrr, but I’m sure that if they could they would have. Singing Frog Video!
The very tall tower at Marsac sur Tarn. We still don't know what it's purpose is!
The instructions from the B&B we are booked into, were to get to the MacDonald’s roundabout and give them a call. But at lunchtime I noticed my back tyre looking suspiciously as though it was wearing out so we stopped in a bike shop in Gaillac where the tyre was declared ‘mort’. Vivi being such a lightweight hers of course was fine!
Rather appropriately this appeared in a shop window and could be the reason why I needed a new tyre. We guess they are Antipodean due to the van but Harry, Ferg or George will know!
Before I had time to even consider the options my bike was on the car equivalent of a ramp the back wheel was off and the tyre being removed from it. Within 25 minutes we were back on the road again. I’m certain if you took a bike into a store in England they would say OK can you come back in a week!
The shop also Googled the address of our B&B and showed us how to get there so no need for a MacDonald cry for help, and in minutes we were standing outside the most lovely French Farmhouse introducing ourselves to the most charming couple who welcomed us so warmly we began to wonder if we’d stayed with them on our way down France 6 months ago.
Our wing of the farmhouse where we B&B'd - early morning sunshine.
We had our own kitchenette and as the house was a kilometre or two outside of Gaillac we returned to the Le Clerc where we were so impressed that we became befuddled and ended up buying ourselves a 4 course dinner. Up to this point of the trip our carbon footprint has been pretty low, but all those micro-waveable cartons can’t do the world much good! We almost over-dosed on the asparagus that we had been wanting so badly. We had a lovely swim and then for almost the first time since leaving home 8 months ago we sat outside in balmy heat eating our supper. They supplied us with a very nice bottle of the local Gaillac Rose too.
There was a family of tree creepers going up and down some trees outside our window, and the noise the frogs made was so bad that to get any sleep we had to keep our bedroom window closed!
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