Today was beautiful! Sunny, warm, perfect! We drove from Mazamet, north through Lautrec and Graulhet, up and up onto a plateau with incredible views. We stopped to take photos of the landscape with snow capped Pyrenees in the distance. The views were beautiful!
Our first stop was in Gaillac, located on the Tarn River, just west of Albi, and with it's own cathedral and abbaye. Gaillac was a busy town with some new construction. It's nice to see the towns and villages that are clearly "living" rather than "dead or dying." We turned north west and stopped in Castelnau de Montmiral, a pretty hilltop castle village that was eerily quiet. Then to Puycelci, another hilltop castle village, also without much activity.
Along the way, we entered the Gorges de l'Aveyron, which were lush green, with the Aveyron river rushing through high rock walls with the road running through. We came to Bruniquel, with it's castle perched directly above the Aveyron and a pretty village spread on the other side. We had lunch in Bruniquel, ordering the plat de jour of veal with spaghetti and fresh bread. Was yummy. In my haste to get back to the car to get my camera for a photo, I left my handbag in the restaurant. About 10 minutes later, as we parked in the next hilltop village of Penne, I realized I didn't have my handbag. We raced back to the restaurant and there it was, hanging on my chair, with the same people at the same tables nearby. Thank goodness!
We drove back to Penne and walked as high as we could to view the ancient castle hanging out on a rock. What a site! Penne had several triangle shaped buildings, cantilevered on two sides, at the intersections of walkways. So much work was done on these homes and buildings over 800 years ago!
On we drove through the Gorges de l'Aveyron, on roads carved through tunnels of rock and walls of white to red rock towering on either side. St. Antonin Noble Val is the last village before the Gorge starts to open onto a more rolling and gentle landscape. St. Antonin was busy, with a game of boule going on in the park by the Aveyron and people going about their business. An ancient abbaye has been converted to the Mairie and there is a pretty cathedral. We bought almond croissants for a snack.
We turned south at St. Antonin and started back south, arriving in Cordes sur Ciel around 4 p.m. Cordes is the granddaddy of hilltop villages! Over the top beautiful! We walked around for at least an hour and just soaked it up. Loved Cordes!
The sun set as we were passing through Albi and it's magnificent cathedral, around 5:20. We drove the last 60 km back to Mazamet under a full moon. What a day!
Scenes from Gaillac
Castalnau de Montmiral
Puycelci
The sun set as we were passing through Albi and it's magnificent cathedral, around 5:20. We drove the last 60 km back to Mazamet under a full moon. What a day!
