July 4, 2017

July 4, 2017

Carcassonne is lit up at night, so after Aimee went to bed, I snuck out and spent an hour walking the perimeter taking photos.

This morning we left town heading over the mountains to the World Heritage city of Albi. Albi was the center of the storm during the 13th century Cathar Crusade. The French King and the Pope united to add Languedoc to France and eliminate a heretical sect of Cathars. It was a brutal campaign. Afterwards, a bishop ruler was installed in Albi. He built a fortress-like Cathedral here named St Cecile. This Southern Gothic monstrosity is the largest brick church in the world. The interior is highly painted with scenes of the Last Judgement near the altar to remind parishioners of the cost of defying the Church.

Next door he built a similarly styled Bishop’s Palace. He obviously felt the need for protection from the potentially vengeful locals. Today this building is devoted to a favorite son, Henri Toulouse-Latrec, a famed French Impressionist painter. I remember his work well from my several college art history classes.

Aimee likes the museum too because of Henri’s interesting life story. He was the son of two aristocratic first cousins. The inbreeding left him deformed and short. He studied art, moved to Paris and lived among prostitutes. He gained success in the new business of advertising. In particular he is noted for his posters for the Moulin Rouge can-can Cabaret. Interestingly this out-of-the-way museum contains most of his work because he did not achieve fame till later. Aimee and I are surprised how much of his work was painted on cardboard.

Before leaving, we walked around to the back of the Bishop's Palace. Between the Palace and river is a beautifully manicured garden. Stunning!

From Albi we stuck to the tollway and drove several hours north to Monflanquin in the Lot River Valley. I have some former Nalco colleagues that opened a B&B in a 17th century hill-top chateau. They have spent the last couple years renovating the home and building a clientele. The American wife followed her husband to Paris and attended cooking school while he worked. She made us a delicious fish dinner. It is the 4th of July, but with no fireworks we popped champagne corks instead.