A little history, a lot of pictures!

Hi, everybody!

This past week was a very diverse one. After buying my bike Friday (not this Friday, the one before) I was happy as a clam and took it downtown twice. On Saturday there was a big end-of-the-year Erasmus party that some of the students that I share my common kitchen with invited me to, so I joined a four-person bike convoy and away we went! It was a night of dancing, followed by returning at 2:30 in the morning. Aside from strategically avoiding the various creepy guys (there are always a few in every bar, aren’t there?), I enjoyed the night. However, at around 1 in the morning (remember, Europeans don’t start the real party before midnight), the place became so crowded you couldn’t move without bumping into somebody. You can still have a good time, but my tolerance for that slowly waned, so I was glad we left when we did. We actually tried to leave at 2, but goodbyes take a long time as well, so it was off to bed at 3 am…

…and back into town, the following morning! I definitely could have used the extra sleep, but my super cool new friend Bertrand and I decided it was time to enjoy the rare break in the finicky weather (forecast: sunny and the perfect temperature!) to go explore the region. We went to two places: the first was Cordes-sur-Ciel, a tiny village known for being incredibly picturesque…and also for its super awesome location atop a very steep (seriously – steep!!) hill, giving it many AMAZING views of the surrounding countryside. Bertrand has a car, so we drove there through more awesome countryside once we hopped off the highway, onto roads that became progressively tinier and tinier. It was actually quite humorous! We found a parking spot in the village center, and made our walk up to the cité. Essentially, a cité in France is usually the historic city center, often walled to protect it from various unwelcome invaders. Cordes-sur-Ciel is particularly well-located, on top of a rocky hill. It was built in the 1200's as a bastide, or fortified city, to protect the Cathars of southwestern France. I've mentioned this in old posts, but back in these times, France wasn't a single, unified country. There was northern France, ruled by the king and whose residents spoke various dialects of what is now modern French, or the "Langues d'oil." Then there was southern France, whose residents spoke the "Langues d'oc," or what is now Occitan - a pretty, though dying language. Also, the region where I spent my year abroad in Montpellier is known as the Languedoc - get it? :) The two languages are distinguished by their words for "yes" - oil/oui in northern French, and oc in southern.

Okay, so short history lesson here. Catharism was a hugely popular religious movement in southwestern France during medieval times; I won't go into the theology, but the point here is that Cathars were not Catholics, and were a threat to Catholicism - thus, making them heretics. So, in the spirit of the times, a Crusade (one of many during this era) was had, to squash this movement. It was a very violent time, and give either the choice to denounce their religion or die burnt at the stake (or one of any other unfortunate ways), most of the region chose to stand and fight. Sadly, despite the various cities' best efforts and the support of the Count of Toulouse, the Cathars couldn't stand up to the crusading papal army forever (though holding out as long as they did was quite astounding) and, one after the other, cities lost the fight. The crusade was, depending on which side you were on, a success. So, not only was the any rebellion squashed, but as the years went on (from the 1200's to the 1300's), Inquisitions were had and any trace of the religion was systematically annihilated. I could go on about this for even longer than I had, but essentially any fortified city or castle you see in southwestern France - the most famous of which would be Carcassonne - was probably used as protection by the Cathars...sadly, one can only withstand so much. But in any case, while lesser known to the non-French world than the fancy Chateaux of the Loire Valley, the castles and cités of southern France are loads more functional and definitely the place I'd want to be in a zombie apocalypse...if the need ever arose!

Okay, since I've dragged on forever (sorry for the history lesson! I just can't help myself), here are some photos of Cordes-sur-Ciel!

Midway through the steep climb up toward the cité. Legs, don't fail me now!

A gang of elderly people making the walk. Can't let them shame me, no sir. Side note: Nice view eh?

Nicer view (one of many points de vue in the city atop the hill). There's somebody in the way, though! I'll tell her to move next time.

Some unobstructed view over houses below. Not bad, French countryside. Not bad.

 

Clock tower at the fortified cité entrance. Used to be a drawbridge there, like at every entrance! Keeps out the meanies.

 

Look, mom! I'm trying to be artistic. Just a nifty photo :)

 So, the first part of the day was well-spent, and our slightly weary selves made a  stop at a n excellent pizzeria with an outdoor terrasse (most cafés and restaurants have them – something I love about this country !) before heading off to our next destination. I had a smoked salmon pizza with cheese and crème fraîche, which I promise is delicious. Once you’ve eaten a pizza with crème fraîche sauce, which is sort of like sour cream except not really, you’ll never go back!

Next stop was a bigger town, Albi, also an awesome regional destination. Now, I've already dragged this post on long enough, so aside from various fun photos, there is one huge - literally, huge - point of particular interest in this town.

Told ya it was big.

This is the Cathédral Saint-Cécile. Now, remember those Cathars from above? Well, this actually wasn't it. This version of the church (which had been re-built every few hundred years) was built after the Albigeois Crusades (Albi, Albigeois - nice that the crusade was named after them, eh?). Once those nasty Cathars were put in their place, the bishop of the area decided to build the biggest, grandest church imaginable in these times as a way of showing the power of the Christian (Catholic Christian, anyway) faith. Simply put, it's huge, astonishingly so, and makes you feel quite small next to it. Unlike many famous French cathedrals, this is entirely of brick rather than stone - makes it looks like a fortress, doesn't it?

View from the ground. See? Small. For reference, check out those itty bitty people in the background.

On our way inside.

With such a formidable exterior, you'd expect this cathedral to be bland and stern on the inside too, right?

Wrong! It's actually quite lavish and a sight to see.

It's hard to appreciate from a photo, but the level of detail that went into the stonework on the inside...it's positively exquisite!

 

The huge organ.

More stonework!

 Okay, but we didn't spend all our time in the church, as fascinating as it was. Lots of time spent walking around town, listening to some local religious musicians, having drinks...and walking along the river, seeing bridges (I like bridges - you may see tons in my various travel photos) and just enjoying ourselves. So, here are the last of my photos for today, and for anybody crazy enough to read this - thanks for sticking around!

At the riverbank. Bridge #1

Bridge #2. It's quite beefy, this one.

 

Bridge #3. Noticing a theme, here?

But wait, there's more! Bridges 1 and 2 from Bridge 3. Pretty view :)

And that was my weekend! (Not this weekend, but the one before). The rain here has finally stopped and it's seriously some gorgeous, truly beautiful - and warm! - weather. Lots more escapades to follow when I can get caught up, including of note the Garonne river (the one in Toulouse) being reeeally high due to rain, more science, and more food!