FRANCE Summer 2010: Days 4 and 5: Albi to Le Rozier

Bon Soir –

Woke up in Albi and after breakfast set out to explore the town — which is totally charming.. visited the Toulousse Lautrec Museum which is in a spectacular building– the old Palais de la Berbie, an erstwhile residence of archbishops — totally renovated into wonderful gallery spaces with soaring heights… then visited the Cathedral and walked around the town — many walking streets, lots of shops (but I was under control).. stopped for some presse; and then we all headed out to drive to Rozier, our next stop.

The drive to Rozier was gorgeous – first through farm lands and then a series of hair pin turns as we wound our way up to higher elevations, passing hamlets and medieval villages and winding our way across and over the Tarn River a few times. About 20 minutes before reaching Rozier, we came upon the famous Norman Foster bridge — the tallest in the world (frighteningly high — not sure I’d really want to drive on it)– an amazingly beautiful piece of engineering and also beautiful in its elegance and scale. Stopped for a while to marvel.. and then drove on to Rozier which is at the gorges of the river.

We are staying at the Grand Hotel de la Muse right at the gorge. By the time we four assembled it was time for drinks and dinner. The hotel restaurant is a four star deal. Drinks were served with appetizer “shooters” and the meal included baby piglet, squid carpaccio, foie gras, and desserts that could easily be sculptures. About three or four (lost count) different wines complemented the meal. We closed the place down — once again the last patrons of the restaurant..

It’s about 10 am now. I’m settled into the lobby sitting area about to work on two projects (Network and Fresno)… while the others take a stroll along the river. It’s damp and chilly, so frankly I’m just fine catching up on work. We’ll leave here in the early afternoon and head back to Marseilles where we catch a flight to London tomorrow.

This part of France is really special; Mike is now contemplating a house exchange for next year’s vacation. It would be novel for us — staying in one place for two weeks! We’ll see. Richard and Elizabeth seem to think that the French (and the Swiss, many of whom have houses in the south of France) would like to swap to get our Phoenix house in the winter ?? We assumed he was thinking of the California house. Mmmmmmm….

Ok.. signing off — need to get to work.

Fern