Today we spent the afternoon in Albi.  Just another of those medieval towns, we are so used to these now they are commonplace!

Albi has the worlds largest brick cathedral and the bell tower is more than 40 metres high.  Next door is the Bishop's palace which is now the Toulouse Lautrec museum and holds many of  his paintings.

The cathedral was amazing, the ceiling was painted in the 15th century and still appears magnificent - bright blue and without damage.  There is the old choir area which was forbidden to common people before the French Revolution and the new nave which is used now.  The old choir was undergoing renovation.  It was amazing to see where some of the carved statues were worn smooth.  This was in the area where the priests would walk around praying and you could imagine them walking past the statues of the saints and rubbing them or touching them with their hands.

The old church of Saint Sulphy was also amazing, much smaller but in a way more 'medieval'.  One of the french teachers Valerie was married in this church.  I think I got into trouble for using the flash on the camera - one of the blessings of speaking a foreign language, I still don't know.

We are off to spend the whole day in Carcasonne - every day is better than the last and the teachers say this will top them all.

 Always nice for the builder to let you know when he built your house!  This was the house where the painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec was born.