Today, we left our wonderful Villa de Mazemet for Crayssac, a drive that our GPS guide, Jacques, told us would take about three and a half hours. But we were off late and opted to stop at the Medieval town of Albi on the way.
I should explain that Jacques (Jack in the US) is a GPS chip with directions for France, and he is not on top of things the way he is at home. Many places he can't locate, so our navigation combines his efforts and my navigating with detailed maps that we photocopied from a book that the Brucatos lent us.
We made it to Albi about ten to noon, having been reminded by our hosts at the Villa that everything in France except restaurants close between noon and two in the afternoon. Albi has two main attractions beside the charm of the old village: its cathedral and a museum housing most of the works of its native son, Toulouse-Lautrec.
It was ten minutes to noon when we parked the car, so we raced to the cathedral, which is the largest in the world made solely of brick. We slipped inside just at they were closing the doors, and when Bob snapped a shot, the lights suddenly went out. But we saw it! We saw the inside of the largest brick cathedral in the world. It looks like a fortress outside, but inside . . . Well, it's another cathedral.
Then we wandered around the town, which was charming, visited the in-door market, which also was closing up, but not until 12:30 or 1:00 pm, for its two-hour luncheon break. We drooled over the array of local cheeses, the cans of pate, and the amazing selection of fresh fruits, fish and meats. Then we had a ham and cheese crepe sitting on a bench in front of the cathedral along with other cheap tourists and fat pigeons.
Getting out of Albi was not Jacques' finest hour. Bob programmed him to take us to Toulouse, since that was the direction we wanted to go. Jacques kept telling us to turn left, then right, then around a U-turn, across the bridge a couple of times, and finally, he announced that we had arrived at our destination: the Museum of Toulouse-Lautrec, which was right beside the cathedral. Needless to say, it was the Brucato maps that got us out of the city and headed toward our second three-night destination, Crayssac, which is just west of Cahors.
I'm sad to report that Jacques and even the Brucato maps failed to locate our B and B. We found it by blind luck. It's in the middle of nowhere, a 300 year old stone house with two guest rooms. It reminds me of our farm house in Huntington, Vermont, and every bit as isolated. In comparison with the Villa de Mazemet, it's--shall I say--rustic.
I should explain that Jacques (Jack in the US) is a GPS chip with directions for France, and he is not on top of things the way he is at home. Many places he can't locate, so our navigation combines his efforts and my navigating with detailed maps that we photocopied from a book that the Brucatos lent us.
We made it to Albi about ten to noon, having been reminded by our hosts at the Villa that everything in France except restaurants close between noon and two in the afternoon. Albi has two main attractions beside the charm of the old village: its cathedral and a museum housing most of the works of its native son, Toulouse-Lautrec.
It was ten minutes to noon when we parked the car, so we raced to the cathedral, which is the largest in the world made solely of brick. We slipped inside just at they were closing the doors, and when Bob snapped a shot, the lights suddenly went out. But we saw it! We saw the inside of the largest brick cathedral in the world. It looks like a fortress outside, but inside . . . Well, it's another cathedral.
Getting out of Albi was not Jacques' finest hour. Bob programmed him to take us to Toulouse, since that was the direction we wanted to go. Jacques kept telling us to turn left, then right, then around a U-turn, across the bridge a couple of times, and finally, he announced that we had arrived at our destination: the Museum of Toulouse-Lautrec, which was right beside the cathedral. Needless to say, it was the Brucato maps that got us out of the city and headed toward our second three-night destination, Crayssac, which is just west of Cahors.
I'm sad to report that Jacques and even the Brucato maps failed to locate our B and B. We found it by blind luck. It's in the middle of nowhere, a 300 year old stone house with two guest rooms. It reminds me of our farm house in Huntington, Vermont, and every bit as isolated. In comparison with the Villa de Mazemet, it's--shall I say--rustic.
