Albi is built of brick, which is unusual in the south of France, and the colour changes through the day, from salmon in the morning to a deep red at dusk. The great cathedral of Sainte-Cécile dominates the old town, and from a distance it looks more like a fortress than a church, with a massive tower and walls that have no windows at the bottom. It was begun in the late thirteenth century, soon after the crusade against the Cathars had been won, and its builders wanted the faithful, and the heretics, to see where power lay. Inside, the painted vault and a huge fresco of the Last Judgement are astonishing. The whole episcopal city, with the old bridge and the bishop's palace, was listed by UNESCO in 2010.
The palace, called the Berbie, now houses a museum devoted to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was born in Albi and left his entire studio output to his home town. The collection is the largest in the world, and the garden below the palace overlooks the Tarn river.
For a rider, the setting is lovely. The Tarn flows below the town, spanned by an old bridge that dates from the eleventh century, and the roads along the river run through vineyards towards Gaillac, a wine town with an old tradition. In the other direction, the roads climb into a rolling country of fields and woods, with villages perched on cliffs, like Cordes-sur-Ciel. Corners are gentle and the surfaces are generally good, making it an easy area for a day of leisurely riding. Traffic builds up in the town in the evenings and on market days.
Albi has over fifty thousand inhabitants, so fuel, hotels and parking are not a problem. A cassoulet is the local dish, though it is more suited to winter than to a warm afternoon, and the pink garlic of Lautrec is a regional product worth buying. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons, with warm light and quieter roads. In July and August the heat can be fierce, and the town's brick walls give it back long after sunset.