Albi is considered one of the most beautiful cities in France and it is. Not just beautiful but…completely and unbelievably beautiful. It was easy to get to Albi by train from Toulouse, one hour on the fast train…an additional 15 minutes on the slow train that makes every stop. The awesome fortress-like Cathedrale Sainte-Cecile, a masterpiece of Southern Gothic style, could even be seen from the train pulling into the Albi station. It looms over little Albi and can be seen from anywhere.

I had found and booked our Albi hotel through Albi Tourist Office, the Hotel St. Clair. Sometimes, the hotel choice you make turns out to be perfect and this choice was perfect. Hotel St. Clair was one block from the Cathedral, and Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, a sunny, charming room with a little balcony outside it, and extremely friendly people. Our Albi stay was only for two nights but we were thrilled each time we returned to our perfect little room.

view of Albi Cathedral from a bridge

our Hotel St. Clair balcony, Albi, France
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in the old quarter of Albi in the Hotel du Bosc (his family’s mansion was just down the street from our hotel), on November 24, 1864 and spent his childhood here.

Hotel du Bosc, Toulouse-Lautrec’s birthplace in France
His mother and father were first cousins and Henri inherited a congenital disease which after several broken leg accidents created his stunted growth. He spent his life drawing and painting the seedier side of turn-of-the-century Paris. Exhausted from work, alcohol and disease, he died in 1901. The Musee Toulouse-Lautrec is in the Berbie Palace. The Berbie Palace was finished in the early 14th century and served as a powerful medieval fortress. This museum is one of the finest in regional France and had a collection of over 1,000 paintings, drawings and lithographs, including the famous Parisian brothel scenes.

famous Toulouse-Lautrec illustration in Albi 

The Berbie Palace also had a beautiful formal garden to stroll in…before or after visiting the museum….

Berbie Palace formal garden, Albi, France 

Berbie Palace, Albi, France
….and both ex-Marine and myself were crazy about Albi…with its ancient building and streets….

 the Penitents Pharmacy, a Renaissance timber-framed house, formerly Enjalbert House in Albi 

 

Hotel St. Clair in Albi, France
…and, of course, France’s mouth-watering patisseries….impossible for me to resist picking out some wonderful treat each day…as well as excellent ready-to-go sandwiches.

pastry…in Albi, France…or… 

…a sandwich…both irristible… France
Good thing we spotted the sandwiches because today was Monday and most restaurants are closed on Monday as well as Sunday. It was the in-between time, where whatever open restaurants there were had finished serving lunch and wouldn’t begin dinner until 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. Starving, couldn’t wait that long and just bought pastry, sandwiches, had a little shop uncork a bottle of wine for us, and we were in business. Yummy and just fine for tonight but I was determined to find a nice restaurant for dinner tomorrow night.