one last climb, Albi, Cordes

On our way out of the Amphi sector, I saw a very cool looking climb which followed a steep overhang and finished on a low angle jug filled slab. It looked like my kind of climb, and we decided to come back for a morning session.

So after another excellent breakfast

in which I FINALLY asked what those multi colored things are in the container next to the orange juice (Pollen grains, for your coffee, yogurt, or whatever), we headed to the crag again.

Unfortunately, things didn't go so well: a general lack of fitness and two days of climbing left me weak and I ended up getting demoralised on the warm up. Things went downhill rapidly from there and involved a lot of hanging on the rope, cursing, pulling on draws and general dispair. In the end everything worked out, and I can add that climb to my growing list of unfinished business in the tarn. After gathering up our gear, we headed back to the castle (yeah, I like saying that) for another bath and packed up.

After settling the four digit bill, we drove out of the tarn, stopping at the point sublime to look out over the Tarn



And then made a short detour to show my parents the magnificent Millau Viaduct. They have a little aire built there now, which we stopped at briefly.

From the viaduct, we headed North to Albi and somehow ended up in the pedestrian filled extreme center, which was not a pleasant driving experience. After finding parking, we walked to the Musee Toulouse-Lautrec

so that Kenji and Gail could get their fine art fix. The museum has some of the litho stones which still have images on them! There was also a fun little side kiosk with Toulouse Lautrec's "special" cane. In the later years of his life, he was put in an institution to curb his alcoholism. To get around this, he aquired a special flask-cane, complete with a cute little shot glass. I dragged Kenji into the room, ready to tell him something he didn't know, but Kenji's encyclopedic knowledge of artists prevailed and he knew exactly what it was.

After a coffee in the square next to the museum, we hit the road again to get to our next hotel. We had looked in the Karen Brown guide for a place near Albi and had come up with a place in a town called Cordes-sur-ciel, which none of us had heard of. Albi and its outskirts are really quite ugly, so it was with great surprise that we saw a fairy tale town rise up over the landscape.

Cordes is stunning: beautiful cobblestone streets and old houses in a oval pattern perched on a hilltop. It's a little unnverving driving up the steep cobbled streets, but we made it to the hotel and checked in. We were pretty happy to have found a parking space right in front of the hotel, but it turned out that parking is illegal after 10 AM. The hotel offers free parking, but the directions on how to use it are a little convoluted and require a color coded map!


After parking the car and checking out the beautiful atrium,



we explored the village a bit










and went to a restaurant that served regional specialties... and had tables set up in the central arcade. For dinner, Chloe and Kenji got the duck with aligot, which was excellent, and I got the sausage with aligot (also very good). Gail ordered the cassoulet, which was also wonderful. I think that aligot, which is a potent combination of potato, cheese and garlic would make an excellent and easy apres-ski dish. I found a recipe here. Kenji and I had the regional apple pastry for dessert, while Chloe and Gail wussed out with sorbets.