A Divine Little City: A Weekend in Albi

Toulouse-Lautrec’s home town of Albi may be small, but it knows how to draw a crowd. Just like it’s most famous son.

France’s civil engineering marvel of the modern age, Norman Foster's elegant Grand Viaduc Du Millau bridge which towers over the River Tarn, may have assisted hordes of motorists driving to the Cote d’Azur every year, but just a few miles up river there's an equally impressive monument, from another age entirely. Alongside three impressive bridges which made Albi the city it is, one a thousand years old, the Sainte Cecile Cathedral reaches for the sky, eighty metres tall and constructed entirely out of brick. It is enormous and counting them would take more than the weekend you've got planned (OK, there're 4 million. Approximately.).

In fact the whole city seems to be built of brick, including the bridges, and the view from the terrace (brick) above the Bishop's Palace (brick) is as pretty as it is instructive. Bricks last.

How to get to Albi:

By road it’s 1000km from Calais, about 10 hours driving, so presumably you’d want to include Albi en route somewhere south. Toulouse Airport is only an hour away, with daily flights from all over the UK. From Paris the Coral Lunea night sleeper will whisk you from Paris Austerlitz to Toulouse where, after a change of platform to the local service then a cab costing about €25, you can be in Albi’s main square in time for a breakfast of coffee and fresh croissants. Rail Europe know everything about rail travel in France, from booking simple tickets to Interrail Passes and sleeper reservations.

OK. WE’RE HERE.

The architecture of Albi reveals all. Divided by the River Tarn it sits at what became a major trading point well over a thousand or so years ago, even before the bridges were there, between two communities who never really mixed. Religious wars made matters worse save for one by-product. The church needed to prove it could build cheaply, and so the brick-making capabilities of Albi became prodigious. The Cathedral and its attendant surroundings are testament to this, as several hundred years later, they still stand.

The town centre's small, easily manageable on foot over a weekend, with the old part pedestrianised, and most of what you want to explore is within strolling distance. It is indeed a town perfectly suited for walking.

Beyond Albi, the most obvious place to visit is Toulouse (of which more here), an hour by train.

STAY WHERE?

There are several hotels in the town centre, but easily the most fascinating is the Hostellerie St Antoine, with a history that is second to none. A clean, modern establishment with a cosy modern bar and restaurant, it's decked out in a manner which belies its past. The bedrooms are large, en suite with TV, and mostly overlook a small courtyard at the rear, or the narrow street out front. The owners, the family Rieux, have been doing this for some time, and rates can be found on their website.

Most hotels, if you want to know their history, will hand you a small leaflet, generally explaining that a few years ago some forebears started a modest inn and it grew, or that the chain bought out the local abattoir and constructed the building in which your now sat out of pre-stressed concrete and sheet metal. No such piffle for the Hostellerie St Antoine. The five page, closely typed document they have produced starts as it means to go on, with a brief note that the 18th century hotel actually replaced an 11th century monastery, with detailed notes describing the life of the original Saint Antoine who was born sometime earlier, 251 AD actually, in Egypt. Passing through paragraphs which begin “But Satan had already began to attack!” we reach the 4th century AD on Page Two and so on for one of the most entertaining and educational hotel histories I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. By page four we have reached the 100 Years War.

At the end of this exhaustingly detailed march through the annals of French conflict and survival, there's a brief sentence, “In 1962…his grandson Jacques demolished and rebuilt the hotel” thus modestly placing the family in a magnificent, awe-inspiring, centuries long arc of human endeavour. Bravo!

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, 1, 2, 3…

(1)    Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Albi's most famous son has been lauded the world over, not just throughout France, and his memory is kept alive in his home town by a quite striking museum next to the cathedral. It too is made of brick, and at least a morning should be set aside for even a cursory exploration of all that is on offer. In the modern world we know that Msr Lautrec attended the Moulin Rouge and bordellos of low life Paris, his shortness singling him out for special affection from the ladies who worked there. His reward was a prodigious outpouring of paintings and lithographs which afforded dignity and beauty to areas of life generally regarded as beneath common decency. What the museum sets out to do, through the generosity of the Lautrec family, is to show what a talented painter he was beforehand, starting at age 15, where self portraits and landscapes shimmer and reveal a talent way beyond his years. Room after room illustrate how he developed, long before he got to Paris. How his influences from the modern art world shaped his ideas, how he was drawn to certain themes. It also explains the tragedy of his height, a genetic condition made worse through accident. The climax of the exhibition, for most people, are the famous lithographs from Paris which are displayed alongside the advertising materials he became engaged with. The show comes to a premature end, in a room full of colour and vigour, laughter and then quite suddenly sadness. Toulouse died at the age of 36 from complications arising from alcoholism and syphilis, leaving a legacy that resonates via mimicry and plagiarism to this day. The building is a delight, the artworks a joy. It makes a trip to Albi worthwhile.
   
(2)    Sainte Cecile Cathedral. The brick colossus that dominates Albi is, from the outside, a conundrum in some respects. Any journey through France brings the traveller into contact with the Revolution and its detrimental effects on the very fabric of France. As the rich and powerful were attacked, this very often meant the church, and its buildings throughout the land are scarred to this day. The Cathedral at Albi, a symbol of wealth if there ever was one, seems largely unscathed. This is largely thanks to the creations of the Italian workers who constructed the interior, they were deemed too precious to destroy. Because it's inside that the impressive architecture of brick gives way to one of the wonders of the religious world, a testament to man's creation that will move even the most redoubtable atheist. The scale is beyond words, the craftwork and artistry beyond compare. The detail and preservation of the limestone carvings - we are used to seeing such work outside, where weather takes its toll - inside it's superb. There's humour in the paintings, odd characters that only local guides know, but for the most part it's simply jaw-dropping. This is not a building that requires a guidebook, it's overwhelming.
   
(3)    Markets throughout France can be much of a muchness sometimes so it's a delight to find a restored indoor market which does what it's supposed to do. It supplies the produce which people who live here want on a daily basis. It's a fine building, originally built in 1905 and restored just recently (three years of chaos for the local community). It was designed by Baltard, whose other market, Les Halles in Paris, is possibly a bit better known. Home to more than 30 regular market stalls throughout the week, on Saturdays it spreads out into the streets. There are two other, smaller markets in Albi on different days of the week at Place Laperouse and Place Fernand Pelloutier selling everything from poultry to pets and second hand books to clothes.

LET'S DO LUNCH

Cheap

Le Grand Pontie in the main square, Place du Vigan, is the focal point where at some stage a coffee and a croque monsieur should be taken to do a little people watching. All of Albi seems to pass here, promenading, shaking hands, nodding and chatting. The Weekender's visit coincided with a workers' protest where a picket line was organised outside the bank opposite, in what was one of the most good natured and convivial gatherings seen in such circumstances. The revolution was clearly not going to start here that weekend.

Not so cheap

Albi has a number of "secret" gardens which can be found either with one of the tour guides (see Albi Tourism) or by following a map. However, the game is almost given away by the name of Lou Sicret, hidden down a little passageway off Place du Vigan, which serves local produce in its own private courtyard. Snacks and economic lunch menus but also the place to try “puree du pauvre” literally the puree of the poor man, as exemplified by such as Joel Robuchon’s luxurious potato puree (ie loads of butter with shaved truffles) although the owner here declares his cuisine simply to be from the surrounding land of plenty – the pays de cocagne.

Not cheap but worthwhile

The Weekender was unable to test many places in Albi but others recommend Auberge du pont-Vieux, Chiffre, Parvis, and Reserve for regional cuisine.

WHAT'S YOURS?

If you arrived in Albi by the modern little single-carriage local train from Toulouse you'll have stopped along the way at a forlorn looking station, a single shelter adorned with the word "Gaillac". This unimpressive little gare is the gateway to some of the most unloved wines in France, an all but ignored AOC, Gaillac, which runs to god knows how many different varieties, colours, tastes and qualities. In an attempt to emulate the marketing success of Beaujolais Nouveau, there's been a little flag waving under the heading "Gaillac Primeur" which seeks to tempt the consumer into trying a young, fresh new taste. I've never actually drunk an old Gaillac so that all passed me by. But I have tried many, many varieties and I've yet to taste one I didn't like. Try the sparkling white, dry or semi sweet as an aperitif, and one of the many many reds you'll find throughout the region because back home you'll be lucky to find a single bottle in your local merchant. Out on the town, try one at Pre en Bulle beside the theatre (a few short steps from Hostelerie along Passage Rabelias) a lively bar with a convivial and welcoming crowd.

Oh, and when you're in New York City, pop into the hottest restaurant in Soho, Balthazar. It's the house red.

DINNER IS SERVED

Petit Bouchon (77 Rue Croix verte, +33 (0)5 63 38 76 73) is, to all intents and purposes, an aged bistro of the old school, with a traditional menu, traditional decor, and a general popularity among locals. Think red walls, dark bentwood chairs, a trad bar, posters, and a yellow stained ceiling. Then think a young bar manager, an equally young clientele (who cheerily walk outside every twenty minutes or so for a quick smoke in order to preserve tradition) and you're getting there. It's more homage than pastiche, which informs the menu too, a romp through everything that is good, local and traditional in the regions.

There’s a Menu Gourmet for €29 which has a choice of 4 starters and 4 mains, followed by cheese or desert. Starters include Feuillete Terre-Mer (Saint Jacques with Trompettes des Morts) and a Salade Gourmande which could easily be a main course of duck foie gras poele, gesiers confits and magret sec on a bed of leaves.

The mains include frogs’ legs, roasted goat (kid), Tuna and a quite spectacular beef tartare.

Gaillac dominates the wine list and choosing a suitable red, with the aid of the sommelier (sorry, the barman) is easy. A Sarrabelle at €11 was a deep red, aged in oak Braucal, excellent.

It's a cheerful night out, with digestifs to be had at your table or the bar. The place fills up later but there's never any pressure to vacate your seat - it's just that the bar is only a step or two away and seems the more convivial place to be for a cognac.

DRIVE BY

For an hour or so…

Before the construction of the first bridge, trading on this part of the river Tarn was done on flat bottomed boats, the gabarre, on which today you can spend an hour or two pootling up and down, under the bridges and fortifications, getting a different, but very clear, view of what life was like way back then.

For the day…

Wine has been made in the area surrounding Gaillac for more than a thousand years, in fact claims are made locally that this was France’s first wine making region under the Romans. Be that as it may, the vineyards around these parts produce some fine wines, largely unrecognized and variable. It’s certainly worth the trip to taste some of the many wines they make, particularly the heavy reds (Cabernet France, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, or the Gamay, which has resulted in an annual marketing push for young reds. The grape unique to here is the Mauzac, which is used for dry, sweet, and sparkling whites. Head for Gaillac along the Right Bank (Labastide-de-Levis) or if in doubt the tourist board organize a half day tour with tastings. Try this one or this one for an introductory flavour.

Overnight…

While there are plenty of interesting places around Albi, about 50km to the North West is the beautiful medieval town of St Antonin Noble Val, which sits on the banks of the Aveyron and is well worth the hour’s drive. Pretty as a postcard streets and houses, there is a spectacular market on Sunday mornings dominated by local producers of cheese, meats, vegetables and wine. There’s a great deal of sipping, tasting and nodding going on here. To stay the night, contact the tourism board for details of the hotel or several B&Bs.