One hour from Toulouse is Albi, a magnificent little city. I really like Albi, because nearly everything there looks beautiful. You’ll find an impressive cathedral, gardens overlooking the river, old boats, a charming cloister, and all that for free! Let me show you.
Inside The Episcopal City Of Albi
Small, but mighty: Albi’s Episcopal City has been classified as a UNESCO site since 2010. Like Toulouse, its signature colors are pink, red and ochre because its buildings are mostly made of bricks. These were directly made with the ground of Albi. The Episcopal City is quite impressive, especially the cathedral, and it is registered as one of the biggest brick constructions in the whole wide world!
Sainte-Cécile Cathedral
One of the places I love in Albi is the cathedral. I’m usually not a fan of religious buildings, especially inside. Because I studied Italian and went on school trips, I have seen maaaany churches. However, more and more, I find their details and decorations interesting. For example, I’m a big fan of gargoyles.
Among the cathedral I liked are the Sagrada Familia, Milan’s Duomo and Albi’s Cathedral. The three of them have a lot of light inside, and I think that it makes all the difference. Dark churches make me think of fear of sin, of secrets and dead Christ (some representations are downright scary, in my opinion) while bright and colorful churches make me think of magic, hope and greatness.
Why Albi? Well, first, you have to see it from outside, it’s this giant fortified cathedral. That, in itself, is quite impressive. The bell tower is 78m high, and Sainte-Cécile cathedral is the largest brick cathedral in the world!
If most of the construction is quite bare, the entrance is full of amazing details. I absolutely love it! And get inside to see some more awesomeness. Blue and gold everywhere, but also a lot of colors and paintings. So many that it is also the largest painted cathedral in Europe. This cathedral is simply magical! And you can get in for free. You only have to pay if you want to see some more rooms, but honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary.
Berbie Palace
Right next to the cathedral, you’ll find Berbie Palace. I have only been inside the court and the gardens, because the entrance to the palace is not free. It’s not that expensive though: 10 euros.
It was the bishop’s palace and they made it very cosy, with a stunning garden. Inside, you can visit the palace, but it is also a museum: the Toulouse-Lautrec museum. Nothing to do with the city of Toulouse, but more to do with the painter named Toulouse-Lautrec. He was born in Albi, but became famous in Paris. You might have some of his paintings of Moulin Rouge dancers. And if I remember correctly, his character appears in the movie.
The Gardens Of Albi’s Palace
The gardens are also one of my favorite places in Albi. You can walk around and get a really good view of the city.
When I went there with my mum, something weird happened. We were walking on the path around the gardens and looking at the Tarn river when we saw a body floating in the river. Oh my God! Is that a dead guy? Face down in the water, not moving. A group of rescuers was coming to get him with a cord. They brought him to the bank of the river, still not moving. We were mortified. What a horrible day! There were firefighters trucks next to the river. A lot of trucks actually… For fuck’s sake, they were training young rescuers! The guy was not dead, he was an instructor playing dead. Oh my God! It took us a while to get our breaths back. They should put signs so that people don’t panic. Then, when we went down there to take the boat, we saw them again. The guys who played dead clearly loved their job. They were even acting “Don’t come near or I’ll jump”, and then he would jump in the river and suddenly be floating.
Albi’s Church And Cloister
Less impressive and colorful than the cathedral, there’s Saint-Salvi Church. I don’t think it’s that interesting, but it has a really nice cloister with an herb garden. And again, it’s free! You can enter from three different entrances if I remember correctly. You can even enter the cloister without getting into the church.
See The City From A Traditional Boat
If you want to have a relaxing time and see Albi, its palace and its old bridges from another angle, you can buy a ticket for a boat trip. You can buy it right there, on the banks of the Tarn river.
The duration can be 45 minutes, 1 hour and a half or 2 hours. The cheapest trip is 8.50 euros. I think it’s cool and it was very pleasant during Summer. The traditional boats are called “gabarre” and were originally used to transport goods from one city to another.
Note that if you don’t want to pay for the boat trip, you can still get a pretty good view of the city from its bridges (see the photo hereunder). The tourist office can give you a map with itineraries to visit both sides of the city and fully enjoy your time in Albi without paying anything.
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