Albi Cathedral, 2

More looks at St. Cecelia's in Albi...

Closer-up on the screen

More

Constantine and Charlemagne preside over
the choir; divine right of kings, don't you
know?

In one of the chapels, a beautiful model of how they put
this baby together

In another, St. Helen (Constantine's mom)
and the finding of the true cross

Outside, the adjoining bishop's palace

Largest hydrangea bloom I have seen--more than a foot
across

And the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, which we decided to
save for next time; ask me how Toulouse-Lautrec and
adjusting the valves on a 911 are related...

Moon and tower

Albi Cathedral, 1

The aire in Albi is a large central parking lot just steps from the church. We arrived in the early evening and there already were a couple dozen other campers there. We saw the cathedral--one we'd not heard of before--the next morning and were impressed with a number of its facets.

St. Cecelia's, Albi, from the east; it looks much more like a
fortress on the outside, a huge brick fortress

Sculpture of St. Cecelia herself, in the familiar pose we first
saw in her house--and that of her husband St. Valerian--the
first Christian church in Rome

On the inside, the church is totally Gothic; and here, looking
from the crossing back to the west end, you can see three of
the church's most interesting features: the west (traditional)
entrance now a chapel (you enter from the south or north);
the organ, largest classical organ in France; and the last
judgment fresco, the largest of all Medieval last judgments

A few looks at this monumental last judgment

All that is known of the artist(s) is that they were 15th

century Florentines

Specimen lurid detail

Life-sized too

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this last judgment is
Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit all were removed to make way
for the west chapel and the organ; unthinkable, but true;
above is a rendering of what the last judgment looked like
originally

Beautiful ceiling, rib vaulting

And now, looking from the last judgment
back east to this church's other most
remarkable feature: the only remaining
intact rood screen in France, a beautifully
carved and massive structure; such screens
separated the priests and their mysteries
from the common faithful; they were
generally removed in the Counter
Reformation, but Albi's has survived

Lastours, Cathar Castle

We wanted to take in another Cathar castle in the area, and one of the best, Lastours, was nearby. We drove up to the village, hiked up to the entrance area/museum, and then, considering the steepness of the admission fee, that of the hike up to the castle, and the 97 degree temperatures, decided to down a pastry, take a few pix and press on, across the mountains, to our next major stop, the cathedral at Albi, the town that gave its name to the Albigensian heresy and the Albigensian "crusade" (read: genocide?). We had already seen Peyrepertuse and Queribus in 2010. The Cathars, aka Albigensians, were a Medieval Christian off-shoot movement, mostly in southwestern France. Their tenets sound benign enough today, but they ran afoul of Church and King, mainly because of their notion that material things were bad/spiritual things good (the Church, with its massive holdings of land and wealth really liked material things in the Middle Ages and later), and particularly their notion that a priesthood was unnecessary for human/divine relations. This latter really troubled the Church, and, with the assistance of the King(s), the Cathars were pretty much wiped out. Scores of thousands brutally murdered. Ad majorem Dei gloriam. The castles are about all that remain.

Land of the Cathars

Lastours

Up closer

From Lastours village

Carcadelphian Out-takes

Statue of Mme. Carcas, who fooled the
besieging army by throwing a fatted calf,
the city's last, over the wall; seems like every
walled city has such a tale, sometimes
calves, sometime croissants, sometime bottles
of 1947 Mouton-Rothschild; note boobular
asymmetry

Evidently the old city had a lice problem

Thus

Maybe they should have thrown lice over the wall (nyuk-
nyuk-nyuk)

But Carcadillo still brings out the better angels of our nature

Including not a little family violence

And sibling rivalry

Carcassonne By Night

Carcassonne

We got to Carcassonne in mid-afternoon and found the aire, actually one of the city's big parking lots outside the old walls. Just look for the sign that says 2000 parking spaces. Probably 30 other campers already there. We'd been to Carcassonne probably twice before, first I think in 1979, and then later in 1989. It has changed greatly in those years. Judging from the crowds and children, it must rival Euro Disney as a family attraction. We waited until later afternoon and the departure of most of the tour buses and then went in--a short walk from the aire--hoping especially to enjoy the place at night and in a quieter mode.

Yet another World Heritage site

We particularly enjoyed the little church; the Cathar church
was Romanesque; when the king took over, he ordered the
church changed to Gothic--a show of power--but the
reconstruction never got beyond the chancel; thus it's an
example of both styles

Nice gargoyle

Interior

Very nice old windows

Ditto

Loved the sign outside: "The Basilica St.
Nazarre is a church always assigned to the
Roman Catholic cult"

Us at Carcassonne

Statue of the guy responsible for saving and
rebuilding Carcassonne--in accordance with
19th century notions of what a Medieval
walled city should look like

Sete Again

After Orange we made for the Pont du Gard, the famous Roman aquaduct, which we had seen before. We got there without more than the usual navigational incident. But upon entering we found that the parking lot charge, just for sedans, was 18 euros. Who knows what it would have been for a medium-sized RV. Then the charge for looking at the thing was more. So we decided, not reluctantly, to pass. We've visited scores, perhaps hundreds, of World Heritage Sites, and, until Pont du Gard, never, ever, felt gouged. This place is a disgrace. Shame on Pont du Gard! Remove it from the List!

Later, I'll post a photo of Vicki at the Pont du Gard in 1986.

There she is; way back in the days when you could walkall over it, and free, too

We headed on, in some frustration, both with P du G and with the traffic, to a stretch of beach we have enjoyed before, west of Sete. We wanted some quiet, and I wanted to stick my foot in the Mediterranean one more time.

We first visited Sete and the great beach west of it in 1989; then again in 2010. In 1989, the beach was miles long, completely undeveloped. In 2010, there was evidence of development, some road improvement, some concrete borders, etc. In 2012, it is developed: an extension of the city's beaches, parking lots every mile or so, restaurants, bars, lifeguards, the works. But still uncrowded and still miles-long beautiful sand beach. Just before the very end, where Beach Resort World resumes, there is a parking lot open to campers and RVs, with the usual aire-minimal amenities. It was packed, but we found a spot, perhaps the last one that night. I should mention that Sete is a very interesting-looking town, a port/fishing town, founded originally by Louis14, who needed a Mediterranean port. It is now a tourist town, but still maintaining its gritty old city feel, with great-looking seafood spots. We must spend more time there, sometime.

Parked on the Mediterranean, again

But not alone this time

The beach, now developed

Ditto

Trois Digues

Water sports

Ditto

Disappointingly, the water was cold

We proceeded on, following mostly the Canal du Midi, which joins the Gironde at
Toulouse to link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean

It was a great economic and engineering project in 18th century France; now mostly
recreation and tourism