Small treasures

On Tuesday the 11th, we headed off to the the local market in Mazamet to buy a few things for the next few days. Then the four of us (Suzanne, Colin, Robin and I) headed off to Albi. We visited the Toulouse Lautrec museum and were very impressed with the collection. The museum is housed in the Palais de la Berbie which was built during the XIIIth century and is next to the Sainte Cecile Cathedral. The Toulouse-Lautrec museum houses the biggest collection of his works. It chronicles his work from his early paintings to the portraits of brothels and night life in Paris, which he is most known for, especially posters. He was a great portraitist and a painter of nature. Henri de Toulouse-Letrec was from a very wealthy family, however his parents were first cousins. He suffered from congenital heart condition and bone disease which are attributed to inbreeding. He broke both his legs at an early age and they never healed properly and this was the cause of his short stature. He developed an adult torso while retaining his child size legs. He died at 36 years of age.

Next a stop at the Sainte Cecile Cathedral, which I referred to in a previous post. A short walk along the Tarn river, lunch and then went to view the gardens of the Berbie Palace. Also dropped in to see the Saint-Salvi cloister and chapel.

The gardens at the Berbie Palace in Albi

Then drove to Cordes sur Ciel, said to be the most well preserved of Bastides towns in the Albi region. It is situated on a steep hill and one can appreciate why the surname of the town is "sur-Ciel"...in the sky. We only gave ourselves one hour here, which was definitely not enough. Robin found a knife shop, but fortunately we didn't have time to stop...took his picture though! This town was founded in 1222. Always amazed at the history of Europe, considering Canada is such a young country.

Robin in front of the Laguoile knife shop in Cordes sur Ciel

Suzanne and Colin taking a break in Cordes sur ciel

Wednesday the 12th and Suzanne and Colin left this morning. Their visit was simply too short, but still very happy that we could spend a couple of days with them. Robin and I went for a one hour hike up the local hill to a cross, then off to the Haut Languedoc for the afternoon, about an hours drive from Mazamet. The wildflowers are in full bloom in the hills.
The first town we visited was Olargues, which is classified as " one of the prettiest villages in the area". It is perched above the River Jaur, on a rocky outcrop with a mountain ridge as its backdrop. There is a medieval bell tower which remains in the town, from the 11th century. I think we were the only visitors in the town, even the cats thought we were an intrusion. We then took some steep narrow mountainous switchback roads to the lake area. Stopped in the small village of Fraisses sur Agout to quench our thirst. It was 31 degrees at one point in the day. This town got its name from the tall ash trees ( Fraisses is the Occitan word for ash) and here I thought they were talking about strawberries....although fraise (strawberries) only has one "s". Nearby a memorial to the Second World War resistance fighters. We have come across a few of these in our travels.

Olargues

Continuing down the road to Villelongue located on Lac du Laouzas. You would almost think you were in Swizerland, a small area of cottages along the lake. Back to Mazamet along windy roads...another enjoyable day, and finally some warm weather.
The conversations with locals always continue to amuse and surprise us.
.........Stop for tea a local shop where we have been before. The owner says, as do all shopkeepers when you enter their establishments...."Bonjour Monsieur/Dame" ...literally meaning , good morning Mister/Madam....just sounds better in French. Think I mentioned in a previous posting that people walking into shops and restaurants will also say "good day" to all those already there. O.K. Off my original train of thought.....the tea shop owner recognizes us and says in French....well at least the weather has improved, did you know it was 30 degrees in Moscow? We said, we didn't want to go to Moscow and the weather was nice today...he says... This has been the worst spring...we say..it's o.k. , we are on holidays. It's as if all the locals are apologizing for the cooler than normal rainy weather!
........go to the butcher...he says..where are you from.....Canada, we say....he says, you don't have an accent...Robin says in a nasal tone...wein...something Quebecers would say. I have to tell him that I am from Western Canada and don't have the nasal twang like the Easterners. He then proceeds to tell us of various places we should visit in and around Mazamet. The people here have been very friendly. Like anywhere else we have travelled, you simply have to engage people to be well rewarded.
....stop in a small town today for a "refreshment". I say to the owner...what a lovely day, summer is here. His reply...let's hope! People all over the area cannot believe the wet spring.
In our travels in the countryside, you see lots of small signs, all with different names. It is a custom that one names ones home, especially in the countryside. This is how people find your location. It is also nice to see the hundreds of small villages. In North America small villages like these would be deserted. Our favourite small town is one we drive through quite often. It is called "Le Cun". As with all towns in France, it has a sign when you enter the town and another with a slash through it to advise you are leaving the town. In Le Cun, the two signs are five seconds apart! Last week in the local paper a mention was made of a reunion of residents of Le Cun...it was held in a barn.....really...that's true!
As I am reading up on some more history of the Cathars, I keep coming across the name of Simon de Montfort as a leader in battles against the Cathars. Think I already spoke about him. The Albigensian Crusade ( named after Albi ) started in 1209 through 1244, the object being to stamp out Catharism. It took 80 more years to obliterate Catharism, mainly due to the Inquisition and burning at the stake. Considering the Cathars did not believe in procreation, wouldn't they just have died off....just asking?
My sister in law Brenda was supposed to have arrived in France on Thursday the 13th. Robin noticed an article on the Internet on Monday indicating that the French air traffic controllers were going on strike for three days, so we contacted Brenda. This type of work stoppage is quite common in Europe....unions always going on strike for one reason or another. Her plans are to delay her flight to Toulouse from Amsterdam till Friday morning, hopefully all will be running smoothly by then!
On Thursday the 13th, we headed off to Narbonne for the afternoon. As you approach the city, you see the Cathedral looming in the distance. Wineries in abundance in the countryside around Narbonne. It has a well preserved central town with a pedestrian zone. The centre is bisected by the Canal du Robine, so a very nice setting; boats were lined along the canal in the centre of town. The market was also happening, so lots of vendors selling everything from clothes, home goods, hardware, cosmetics, etc. This town has quite a history. It was once the capital of a Roman province into the Middle Ages, and home to an important Jewish University. In the mid 1300's everything went awry. The Jews were expelled, the plague struck, the Black Prince burnt down the town, the dykes of the Aude River burst and the port silted up which all led to the decline of commerce in the area. Prosperity did not return till the 1800's with the birth of the modern wine industry, which today is still the major industry in the area.

The Cathedral in Narbonne

The Cathedral de St. Just et St. Pasteur is said to be the tallest in France, and construction was started in 1272. Beautiful stained glass windows and great buttresses adorn the church. The original plans were never finished as the extension would have meant destroying the original town walls, so it has an odd footprint. A wall that was built for the expansion, still stands today attached to the cathedral. A nice cloister is also attached to the cathedral.

A pedestrian walking area in the centre with very narrow winding streets. The centre Cours Mirabeau, is being totally repaved and upgraded with fountains which I am sure will add to the beauty of the centre.

Chez Bebelle in Les Halle's, Narbonne

We poked our noses into the permanent market, Le Halle. It reminded us of the St.Lawrence Street market in Toronto or the Granville Island market in Vancouver. We decided to go in, most of the vendors were already closing up, but there was an area where people were milling about and lunch was being served. We decided to have lunch there. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun just watching the goings on. The owner is a former rugby player and he is the maestro of the whole operation. You have to see him to tell him you would like a spot. When he seats you, he eventually returns and quickly recites what is available to anyone who has just sat down. Set menu, but they specialize in tartare, including horse tartare, which seemed very popular. Once you tell him what you want, he gets out a bullhorn and yells over to either the meat counter or the chicken counter (these are separate vendors in the market) for either an order of tartare, chicken or beef. The meat vendor wraps up a section of meat, enough for one order of tartare, then flings it over everyone's head to the Maestro. He has a group of workers who then put the various orders together. So for instance, if you order tartare, they spread out the meat, add spices and top it off with a raw egg yolk. We did not opt for the tartare. He also has his own wine with personalized labels! What a pleasant and fun find!
We then decided to drive to the "plage" -oceanside, as Narbonne a bit inland, but not very far. The Gruissan Plage is full of bland condos and seems overbuilt, lots of for sale signs. Besides the beach and marina, not much else to do here. Struck us as very tacky..