Albi -Autobus

Friday 6 September

Albi -autobus

We didn't have a good start to this day, we arrived in plenty of time to catch the 10.02 and have a coffee beforehand.  So we duly waited our turn to see one of the travel assistants, only 10 mins and the lady behind the counter was an older person with a very stern face.  "Parlez vous Anglais?" David said in his most appealing voice, "Non" came the stern reply, so we carried on as best we could and told her about the Albi train at 10.02 (I have the app!), "Autobus" was her stern reply, no we said we needed to go by train, "Autobus 10.38", that threw us a bit so David asked what the times were for Monday, "Autobus" was the stern reply.  So we walked away and thought about this over a coffee and pastry - the lightest, crispest, melt-in-the-mouth 'escargo au raisin", think of a slice of Swiss roll made with flakey pastry and covered in plump raisins and sugar coating, yumm.  So feeling a bit better we decided to take the bus rather than not go and spoil our day.  We went over to the bus station to book our tickets and hopefully talk to someone a bit more helpful, she was much nicer and in broken English said that we had to go back to the railway station and book our tickets there!  So back we traipsed and waited our turn once more hoping not to get the "Autobus" lady.  Fortunately we got a nice young lady that told us the Albi trains would not be running until next year and all the trains had been replaced with "Autobuses"!  So tickets in hand we went back and waited with many other people at platform 23.

The bus was on time, we had nice seats and settled in for our 1hr 50min drive through the countryside.  It turned out that this was like a regular bus that stopped many times on the way to pick people up from the railway stations.  

Each station had the Station Master and assistant there checking off the handful of passengers getting on and off.  The country side is quite beautiful in France, though not much different from any other country I guess.  

We felt quite lucky to be seeing so much of it and visiting so many little towns off the beaten track, now the towns ARE different to other countries, picturesque villages in most cases, with a history as long as your arm.

We arrived in Albi on time and then we saw why there was no train service - they are totally pulling down the station to build one bigger and better.  So we were met by the obligatory Station manager along with three assistants. I guess that's something to do with the employment laws in France.

We walked up to the cathedral and I was blown away by the size and power it portrays.  It's position and command over the area reminds me a little of Liverpool Cathedral.  All made out of bricks and so tall and imposing.  There is a beautiful entrance way to the side which is so different to the rest of the outside of the church,  made of stone and mortar and carved filigree points and figurines.  

Wikipedia:  "The present cathedral was preceded by other buildings. The first dated from the fourth century and in 666 was destroyed by fire. The second is recorded in 920 by the name of Saint Cecilia, the present-day patroness of musicians. It was replaced in the thirteenth century by a Romanesque cathedral in stone.

Saint Cecelia at rest

The Brick Gothic cathedral was constructed in brick between 1287 to 1480 in the wake of the Albigensian heresy in the area. The government mounted a brutal crusade to suppress the Cathar rebellion, with great loss of life to area residents. In the aftermath of the bloodshed, the cathedral's dominant presence and fortress-like exterior were intended to convey the power and authority of the Christian faith. The instigator of the cathedral's construction was Bernard de Castanet, Bishop of Albi and Inquisitor of Languedoc. Work on the nave was completed about 1330.

The cathedral is built in the Southern Gothic Style. As suitable building stone is not found locally, the structure is built almost entirely of brick. Notable architectural features include the bell-tower (added in 1492), which stands 78 metres (256 ft) metres tall, and the doorway by Dominique de Florence (added circa 1392). The nave is the widest Gothic example in France at 60 feet (18 m). The interior lacks aisles which are replaced by rows of small chapels between brick internal buttresses, making Albi a hall church. Compared with regular Gothic, the buttreses are almost entrely submerged in the mass of the church. The principal entry is on the south side through an elaborate porch entered by a fortified stair, rather than through the west front, as is traditional in France."

On the inside the walls and ceilings have been painted.  I haven't seen anything like it before, it took 100 years to paint and additional painting continues to this day.  The inside is one big vast area, none of the usual stone columns that go up to the ceiling, and the roof is decorated in mainly blue, when the sun shines through the windows  it lights up all these wonderful colours.  So impressive.

Wikipedia:"The elaborate interior stands in stark contrast to the cathedral's military exterior.

 

The central chœur, reserved for members of the religious order, is surrounded by a roodscreen with detailed filigree stone work (similar to the entrance way) and a group of polychrome statues. Below the organ, a fresco of the Last Judgement, attributed to unknown Flemish painters, originally covered nearly 200 m² (the central area was later removed).

 

The frescoes on the enormous vaulted ceiling comprise the largest and oldest ensemble of Italian Renaissance painting in France.

The cathedral organ, the work of Christophe Moucherel, dates from the 18th century."

Then we moved on through to the museum where they house the biggest collection of paintings by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.  

There are about four floors of his paintings, and I learned so much about him, his early years when he was ill and how he started drawing horses, then through to his friendship and influence by the Impressionists, on to his bordelo pictures, and finally his posters and caricatures.  I googled 'Henri Toulouse-Lautrec‘ and all his paintings are there to remind me.  Such a treat.

Wikipedia: " The Musée Toulouse-Lautrec is a museum in Albi in southern France, dedicated mainly to the work of the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who was born near Albi. It opened in 1922 and is located in the historic center of Albi, in the Palais de la Berbie, formerly the Bishops' Palace, an imposing fortress completed at the end of the 13th century.

The museum houses over 1,000 works by Toulouse-Lautrec, the largest collection in the world. It is based on a donation by Toulouse-Lautrec's mother after his death in 1901."

It was time to head back to the station, our bus left at 4.45pm. There were one or two people there already, so I sat down to wait while David went off to buy some drinks for the journey.  We were ticked off the list by the Station master and his very chatty assistants who seemed to make more noise than the bulldozer knocking down the roof of the station!  More people arrived and the bus was obviously running late, more people and I was beginning to get worried that maybe the bus would be full, the last thing I wanted to do was to have to stand all the way.  Then a big guy with a striped shirt and a suitcase went to the front and started talking to the Station Master, who was trying to keep an eye out for the bus.  He walked up and down the road for a while, and every time he got back Mr Stripey was waiting to talk to him again.  So annoying, I thought he was probably trying to wangle a good seat for himself.  At last the bus arrived, 15 mins late, fortunately, there was plenty of room on the bus, and of course Stripey sat in the seat behind the driver.  Well, the driver was 'Mr personality plus', jumped off the bus, flirted with the Station Masters assistants, little man, loud voice, about 58 ish, very French!  Checked the baggage, jumped literally back on the bus, went up and down the aisle, had a conversation with David who nodded sagely but had no idea what he said, you wouldn't think he was now running 20 mins late!  Late comers still piling on 10 mins later, and so off he went at break neck speed, shouting loudly at anyone who got in his way!

Loud conversation with old Stripey now took place, laughing, hand gestures, old Stripey wouldn't shut up, he bent over so the driver could hear better- we found it pretty loud half way down the bus!  Then a phone conversation with someone which got rather heated.  

While this was going on he was driving down country lanes and I think he must have been brought in as an extra (maybe more used to driving trains?) as driving behind a car doing the correct speed limit was like a challenge to him and encouraged by old Stripey he would either get too close or try to overtake!

We stopped at every station, David and I were getting a bit irritated by this as we had arranged to catch the bus home and as we were late already we weren't sure when the last bus was.

 

 So the first time the driver got lost was down a narrow street, and he tried to make a right hand turn, now experienced as James is at parking planes, I don't think even he would have attempted this, not even with old Stripey's encouragement.  

So accompanied by a few shrieks from the back of the bus, he backed up sufficiently to allow the bus to straighten up and go down a one-way street the wrong way!  

However he stopped the bus to ask a passer by the way to the station and when we got there of course no one was waiting.  So he took a short cut to the next village and so we went on,

Nearing Toulouse he got lost again and spotted the driver of a later bus from Albi and followed him to the station, but as no one wanted to get off he turned around leaving the other driver to pick up anyone waiting.  And again at the next station he had to ask the girl who was getting off for directions!

He tooted a mate in white van who passed him, he and old Stripey thought this was a great game and ended up passing him on motorway, raced him to the wide array of toll booths, and didn't choose to go in the bus lane, in order to get away before him, but he got away first.

We arrived at the station and caught the Metro to Basso Combo where James picked us up.  It was in the middle of Jaspers party, so we felt doubly bad,  he had four friends for a sleep over and left Rachel to cope alone while he rescued the olds once more!  Jasper had in invited 14 of his class mates to an afternoon of Laser Strike, so I am glad he didn't invite them all for a sleep over!  I don't think we spoilt his party and Rachel was very understanding, while she cooked up another couple of pizzas and chips for David, James and I!

Just for the record these were some of the stations we stopped at.

Haute Garonne -lady got off

St Sulpice

Rabastens

Lisle sur Tarn

Gare de Gaillac - tabac

Marssac.