The Traveling Twosome: 8 - 5/8/2015 - Toulouse then Rouffignac-St-Cernin-de-Reilhac

Friday, Day 8 - First rain

Leaving Carcassonne we had light rain before Castres, on the way to Albi and the Lautrec Museum. First rain we've seen since leaving Sacramento. By the time we reached Albi it had stopped, but large masses of clouds shadowed us all day as we headed north. On the whole though, a nice change. Pam swears it will be only blue skies tomorrow.

We stuck to secondary roads rather than motorways and toll roads the first half of the day’s journeying in order to see the “real” France. This is getting tiresome to say, but virtually traffic-free roads have us thinking that everyone else is actually somewhere, someplace having a party which we just haven't heard about. But at least some of them are hanging at McDonalds, since whenever we drive by one of them the parking lots and drive-thrus are packed. Yay Uncle Sam.

Albi has the Toulouse Lautrec Museum which has all of his works and papers left after his death – all of his posters and other artwork are there to show what a really accomplished artist he was. There are many studies and sketches matched to the final products which illustrate how even seemingly offhand posters were carefully thought out. The museum is actually in what is part of the Albi Cathedral complex, with an interior sandblasted and modernized in a most aesthetically pleasing fashion. Part of the €8 admission fee goes to restoring the cathedral itself. An irony that artwork in part devoted to the more “profane” aspects of Parisian life should now bring in money for a holier purpose.

The cathedral is massive from the outside, made more magnificent by its newly sandblasted brick exterior. Interior restoration is painstakingly taking place, seemingly with a toothbrush from the look of a conservator working in an enclose area. Almost the entire interior is painted in designs, from the walls to a ceiling so high up that clouds could be forming there. The day on which this paint is brought to life from its current state of centuries of grime, everywhere it will be ablaze and wonderful to behold – as its originators intended.

Another underground parking glitch - are we to be niggled forever? - this one in Albi. We received a timed ticket from a machine when we entered. Upon preparing to leave the theory is that we would put the ticket in another machine which would then tell us the amount owed and would then spit out our same ticket, only now validated for exit. Except the machine would not take our coins - the coin slot was blocked. We tried re-entering the ticket several times to see if it would open, but no. We then pulled out a Euro bill, but just at that time the machine decided to refuse the ticket as being no longer valid. Well, what a revolting development. This was an unmanned garage and a call button we tried was probably set in a piece of chewing gum for all the good it did. Here we were, trapped underground in a foreign land with people to see, places to go, etc., etc. In desperation we determined that the exit barrier arm stayed open after a car went through just long enough to maybe let another car slipstream along. What’s to lose, except our car's glass roof? We picked an exiting Alfa and practically rode up on its bumper as we goosed the Peugeot to make our escape. Success! And a universally rude hand motion directed toward the garage as we sped away.

Tonight finds us staying in somewhat remote Rouffignac-St-Cernin-de-Reilhac, at a chateau that was renovated in 2012. It's about 30 km southwest of Montignac and the Lascaux Caves, but lays claim to its own Grotte Rouffignac which is on our list as well as Lascaux. So tomorrow, blue skies or not, it's time to put on our miner's hats and spelunk plus also drive around to see more of the sights in the Dordogne region.