Albi and Shopping

Albi on the river

We woke up to a cloudy morning, with rain in the forecast. After a slow start we headed to Albi, about one hour away, over rural roads. As we have become used to, the villages we wandered through were delightful and each day there is more evidence of Spring growth - fresh leaves on the trees, tulips and daffodils. We had promised Ella that we would go to Albi so that she could go shopping, but the city was something a surprise. There was the most beautiful cathedral with painted walls and ceilings and the buildings were made of a lovely soft pink/red brick and stone. Quite different from some of the other villages in this area. The streets were narrow and full of quaint buildings and, as Ella discovered, some very nice shops.

Alongside the cathedral was the museum, which was clearly original a chateau, with the turrets and towers overlooking the main square. Below this were the gardens which were sill in the process of being planted with Spring flowers, but the box hedges were pretty amazing just by themselves. A river flows through the town with three bridges providing access from each side - again, these are built with arches and out of the pink stones.

After exploring the old part of the city, with found the new ‘commercial centre’. It was very Americanised with a huge ‘strip mall’. Everything was on a grand scale and it was a bit sad to see as it could have been anywhere, not a lot of French influence evident. We did find a Decathalon store, which is a brand we discovered in Bejing - French version of Kathmandu, but on ‘steroids’. Prices were amazing and quality was good.  Ella stocked up on running gear. We are a bit concerned that we are going to be over our 20 kg weight limit for Easyjet tomorrow.

We had planned on visiting another medieval village on the way back, but the forecast rain did arrive in the form of an amazing electrical storm and hail. We were driving through surface flooding and the hail was unbelievable. It happened so quickly that there were people out rinding there bikes, going about their daily lives and within seconds, the temperate had dropped and the world turned white. Thankfully it was very localised and most of the trip back was on dry roads.

We managed to get back to the watermill before the rain arrived here - and the washing was dry. Starting to feel sad that our time at the watermill is starting to come to an end.

Ella having a bronze moment

Albi garden and river

Albi - looking fabulous in the sun

Stone picnic table for giants