A Little Trip

Ben came home one day, "Don't expect to go anywhere tomorrow" he said. I must have looked at him questioningly because he continued "they have planned a strike for tomorrow, all the buses, metro and other government run operations will not be going."
"So the employees are striking then?"
"Yes"
This was Wednesday, January 28 and on Thursday, the strike began. In all honesty, if you don't use the bus on a daily basis the strike hardly interrupted my day at all. I just saw a very pronounced police presence, I do not know if they were protecting the citizens of Toulouse or if they were just showing off as to what they were striking for. Oh, I also stopped at the Post Office, but it was still open, it just had two person to ask questions if needed and all the unmanned machines which distribute stamps were still open. I just needed stamps. Ben's day on the other hand went a little bit different. He was able to get to work OK but coming home... well lets just say it wasn't fun. The police had blocked the boulevard in which Ben had to take, so Ben had to take a two hour long detour (this is with the amount of traffic on the road) to get home. I kept trying to get a hold of Ben wondering if he was OK, he kept telling me he was fine, he just needed a snack and requested I walk down to the canal and hand him one. I didn't, but the fact that the traffic was that backed up told you something...this strike was a big deal. Ben figured the police were in it. I mean why not? They blocked off an important road for what appeared no apparent reason. But we are just innocent bystanders and cannot get involved in such things as strikes. We just have to watch from the sidelines.

Besides the excitement of the strike, we were able to do some more "touristy" things. We went to go see Albi, a pleasant little city about an hour away from Toulouse. This town holds a massively striking and dominating Cathedral called St. Cecile. It's side door is completely ornate, with angels, vines and flowers. Also on the sides of its walls were gargoyles budging out their heads in defiance of whatever may enter. Once inside, you are taken aback by the beauty of the walls. They are covered in frescoes. They may just be a pattern covering the wall, or a scene of some saint defending our Father in heaven, whatever the case they were beautiful. The ceiling was also covered in these beautiful frescoes. These frescoes were painted by Florentine artists. According the the Rick Steve's guidebook it was a "good call." Indeed it was, they still are just as beautiful as the day they were painted. In the front of the Cathedral there is a large fresco depicting something specific, the Last Judgement. It is elaborately done, showing pious priests, monks, bishops and archbishops as well as the common believer going to heaven as was promised by God. It also shows the common believer rising from the ground to be counted. It shows what happens if you dare not chose the living God. You are thrown to the devil for spite. One cannot describe its beauty or awe-inspiring thrill to see a wall covered in the glory and wrath of God. Did it perhaps bring new believers to church? Whatever its initial plan it was one of the lucky and largest frescoes to survive the reformation. Throughout the Cathedral are little chapels depicting martyrs, priests and saints all beautiful in there own right, but one of the main attractions is the choir blind. Blinds were used in the Middle Ages to bring mystery to the service, one could not see the voices singing praises to God nor the priest in whom would give the message. This is another lucky save from the reformation. It's stone walls are just as ornate, if not more than the side door. The front of the blind contained Old Testament people while the walls of the blind had angels, each unique. Again one cannot express the amazement or beauty that such art and care hold.
Next to the beauty of the St. Cecile Cathedral we spent some time in the Toulouse-Lautrec museum. This museum was quaint next to the Cathedral, but nonetheless showed the growing of an artist. It started with the artwork when he was just learning. He still was living in Albi and had nothing but the landscape and magazines to go by. He had beautiful impressionistic landscapes of the area Albi, its bridges, its people etc. Some were just portraits of people he saw sitting at the cafes and drinking their coffee or wine. Others had people in action, playing the piano or getting ready to hunt. The further into the museum you went it showed how Toulouse-Lautrec was coming into his own as an artist. The main thing I wanted to see was his prints. They are probably his most famous. Prints of people in the Moulin Rouge in Paris as well as advertisements which kept food on the table. It was a nice little art museum.
After we had attended to the museum and cathedral we went for a bit of a walk. We found a winery and got some local wine. After tasting it we think its pretty good, at least a good recommendation from the man who was in the shop. For our lunch we went to a little restaurant called Le Papillon. We had an enjoyable meal of duck breast and chimichangas. The glorious thing about this restaurant is it is run by two Americans. Our meal was so good I think we'll probably return to have a dinner there. Our meals were served with a soup of the day which was a broth vegetable soup and our dessert was a dainty and tasty spice cake. Both were excellent. The restaurant was not expensive, at least not as expensive as the ones here in Toulouse are. We had a pleasant day in Albi, I hope we return, if anything to enjoy the food at the Le Papillon again.