Toulouse, Conques & Albi
March 2022
More
photos here
9th
March
A 7.40 am flight meant meeting
Julie from
Art Pursuits
and tour guide Richard Plant at Heathrow Terminal 5 before 6.00 Which
means the convenience of stopping overnight at the Heathrow Garden Hilton
has rarely been greater. Still, waking to an alarm set for 4.30 is never
going to be fun. As 5 o'clock is well before the end of the rush hour my
Freedom Pass couldn't be used, which meant I had to buy a ticket - £6.30
for two stops! Passing through both airports was smooth, with vaccination
QR codes scanned when leaving the ramp/tunnel thingy in Toulouse.
Leaving Toulouse Airport we were coached to Moissac for lunch. The
restaurant had been warned of two vegetarians in the party and had
prepared...vegetables. But cooked nicely in spices and such and so rather
delicious. The apple pie was somewhat flat - more an apple pizza -
but yummy. Then the Cluniac abbey of Saint-Pierre for its cloisterfull of
Romanesque capitals (see photo right) and its spectacular tympanum.
Then on to Toulouse in our coach, and the Grand Hôtel de l’Opéra. In the
evening was our first group dinner at Le Bibent, a fish restaurant which
catered well for the two veggies.
Some hummus to amuse our bouches, a stuffed egg thing and some spicy
lentils, followed by a mille-feuille.
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10th March
An early 8.15 start for our coach
to the village of Conques, on the way stopping at the town of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val,
a medieval treat (see photo right) of narrow streets, wood-frame
galleries, and two sociable cats.
We had a beverage break (at which I established my morning hot chocolate
habit) before continuing to Conques, another spectacular medieval treat of
a town (see photo below) with its famous Last Judgement
tympanum over the door of the pilgrimage church of Sainte-Foy. Another
fixture of medieval art history lectures is the reliquary of Sainte-Foy
which is in the treasury here. Around the apse end was pretty too (see
photo right)
There was an included lunch in the middle of our explorations which
included the a goat's cheese and onion tart, with apple slices, some spicy
lentils, and a desert course consisting of four deserts (see photo
below).
That large lunch, and a late return to Toulouse, meant the need for more
food in the evening was minimal, so a shower and an early night was chosen
by me.
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11th
March![](toulousecoin.png)
A civilised 9.30 start for our
day in Toulouse, beginning with big brick Romanesque basilica of Saint-Sernin
(see photos above and far left), with its spectacular octagonal bell tower and
much impressive sculpture, inside and out.
Independent lunch for me was a filled bagel called Le Veggie, with salt
and black pepper crisps and a can of peach iced tea, eaten on a stone
bench in the Capitole square in front of the hotel, disturbed only by a
beggar who I disturbed back by telling him sorry I'm English, in Italian.
A fruity cake was taken back to my room with vanilla redbush tea.
The afternoon began with a visit to the Jacobins Monastery, something of a Dominican
mother church having connections with Saint Vincent Ferrier and local
Saint Antonin and housing the relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Then we
returned to Saint-Sernin for a visit to the Musée Saint-Raymond next door,
an ex-prison and ex-hospital that now houses an archaeology museum, in
which we admired bits of stone, naturally, and sculpture busts and
sarcophagi. It was around this time that we realised that having shown our
vaccination passes at the door we didn't need to wear masks in museums.
The evening was free for 'independent activity' but a bunch of us joined
Richard and Julie and ate in the hotel's restaurant. Cassoulets were a
feature here, the total consumption of one being a meat-eater's badge of
honour, it seems. Vegetarian options were available, but were not seen to
prove one's manhood in any way.
12th March
Today to Albi, and boy did it
rain. After coffee, or hot chocolate, we crossed the road to take in the
enormity of the cathedral of Sainte-Cécile, and get somewhat soaked.
Inside there's a Last Judgement fresco on the west wall missing its
middle, and so lacking its Christ (see near photo above right), and overall
painted walls of various levels of garishness. For lunch Julie, Richard
and me found a place for tasty pizzas.
In the afternoon the outside of the fortress-like 13th-century Palais de
la Berbie (see photo right) was admired first. It was the home of the Albigensian
archbishops, but is now home to a collection of the work of local lad
Toulouse-Lautrec. Not most of us's thing, but it was warm indoors and some
of the interior spaces were fine. Those of us who were mostly admiring the
latter cut the visit short to let Richard take us around the church of
Saint-Salvi.
Back in Toulouse in the evening we had our farewell dinner at Les Caves de
la Maréchale at which a good time, and food and wine, was had by all (see
group photo below).
13th March
An earlyish coach to
Cordes-sur-Ciel, a steeply-approached medieval town which went from
persistent rain to torrents of hail during our visit - the rain gushing
down the steep streets on our descent made for an unforgettable
experience. But it was memorable
for the right reasons too - more medieval loveliness (see photo below).
A local bar got to serve a bunch of seriously soaked brits with hot
beverages before the coach came to take us to the airport. Toasty lunch
items were consumed in the airport before check-in, but there were no
problems or delays in the homeward journey. When I arrived home in the
evening there was still no little dampness about my jacket and feet. |
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