Tourisme le Tarn

Mercredi, 8th of Juillet. Rise and shine. I thought my sister and niece might be jet lagged a bit, but they were up and ready to go. After breakfast on the terrace - homemade granola, homemade muesli, croissants, fresh fruit salad, homemade yogurt, freshly squeezed juice -we were off and running. First stop - the small village of Monestiés. It's a pretty, sleepy village with medieval houses, and an old marketplace town square and fountain shaded by trees. Rhiannon and Nan's favorite thing in Monestiés? Coming around the corner on their way to Raynaudes last night, and seeing the view of the medieval town from the attractive old bridge. The other two main draws - a privately owned castle, and the small church of St-Pierre. Next stop - Cordes-Sur-Ciel (Cordes in the Sky). Built in 1222, it is the showplace of the northern Tarn, and one of the oldest and most picturesque bastides in the region. The bastide is built on a hill, and the view of the medieval hilltop as you pass the sunflower fields is gorgeous as you drive into the village. It becomes quite touristy as we enter into August and September, but right now, it's peaceful and scenic. Perfectly picturesque. A winding, steep (did I say steep?) cobblestone street leads to the top, and back down, allowing you to explore the Gothic houses along the way. Fueled by jambon and frommage baguettes at the patisserie in the lower square, we happily caught the shuttle to the top (well, after all, it was right in front of the patessierie just calling our name!). A stop to buy foie gras for Pete and cheese knives, a look at the Cerou valley from the top of the hill, the butterflies on the lavender..magnificent. Rhiannon loves the memory of us walking through Cordes and hearing "Deebee, Deebee!" Whoever thought I would meet someone I knew in a small French village, and a French guy at that? Turns out, a French couple, (yes, wouldn't you know it, he wasn't single!) Cecile and Jerome, who had been married just a few days earlier, recognized me as we walked by their shop and came out to say hello. It's a small world in the Tarn. Next stop - Albi. The river Tarn was very critical in the past for several centuries for carrying wine from the Gaillac vineyards to Bordeaux via the Garonne. On its banks stands an elegant brick town, with a picturesque bishops palace and Gothic cathedral (Ste-Cecile). It's probably most famous for Henri-Marie-Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec, whose work is showcased in a museum right next to the Cathedral. There is a famous music festival of guitar players that come from around the world each year to Albi, for the Pause Guitar Festival. They were in the midst of setting up the stages when we were there in the Cathedral square, and for a brief moment, we thought we heard Cold Play tuning up. Aaahhh, that would have made our day. What did make my day? Exploring the different villages and towns of the Tarn with my sister and niece. We stopped for a late afternoon drink at a cafe alongside the fountain, shared a lot of laughs, caught up on life, and headed to dinner at L'Epicurean. Memories of dinner will be the crazy lady who got taken away by the police, and our elegant 200 euro dinner. We did get lost on the way home from Albi... ok, the good thing? We always realized when we made a wrong turn. The bad thing? It took us an extra 20 minutes (maybe longer) to get home from Albi than it should have. All I can say is "Thank goodness I drove all the trash to the recycle bins last week!"- they became our best friends and northern star that night for guiding us home. And Nan, thanks for driving. It was a great day.