Hello!
We are travelling to Carcassonne, and then heading up to Sarlat. We're wondering if it's feasible to try and see Albi on the way. Because of the smaller highway and a roughly 2 and a half to three hours drive on either side, we're wondering if it's too much.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
thanks!
Marvox
In my opinion, Albi is much more interesting than Carcasonne. There's a beautiful cathedral and the Toulouse Lautrec museum. I say do it. Is there any chance you could spend one night somewhere on your route? If so, there are any number of cute towns where you could have a relaxing evening with good food and wine, and cut down on that admittedly grueling drive.
When we did it (in the other direction), we spent the night.
But we also took our time, stopping along the way in some of the hill towns and also at the Grotte du Peche Merle, which ought to be on your list if it isn't already.
I think you could do it, if you got an early start and made no other stops enroute.
That's a lot of time in the car and I'll echo Rosalyn and say Albi is infinitely more interesting than Carcassonne. Ed and others recommended Aigues-Mortes over Carcassonne and I regretted not heeding their advice. Like Adam, my wife and I went in the opposite direction from Les Eyzies-de-Tayac after touring the Grotte de Font de Gaume. We spent the night in Albi and toured the Cathedral and Toulouse-Lautrec Museum before driving to Carcassonne. Carcassonne was the only site on our 17 night trip through Southern France that I regretting visiting. You might consider swapping it for Aigues-Mortes and spending the night in Albi before going on to Sarlat.
I don't know where you're staying in southern France. Two years ago my friend and I stayed in the small village of Cucugnan (recommended by Rick as a true back door experience). I'd love to return someday. Stayed at L' Auberge du Vigneron which has a great restaurant (spectacular casoulette). The next morning, after visiting the bakery at the operating windmill, we drove an hour and a half to Carcasonne - definitely worth the visit but didn't stay overnight. Very convenient parking right outside the main city gate.
The drive to Albi is about 90 minutes and it's worth an overnight stop. We stayed for two nights, touring the city itself and followed an abbreviated version of Rick's tour of the Bastide towns. One of the towns we visited was Puycelsi. Arrived close to 2PM and went to the bistro at the entrance to the town. It was in November and off-season so they were only serving drinks, no food. They recommended eating at L' Ancienne Auberge - about the only open restaurant in town. The hotel's restaurant serves meals from Le Terroir. Because the kitchen was about to close, the only thing they would serve us was the special of the day which was rabbit. The meal had to be one of the best that we had on our travels and with beer, wine and a digestiv, the bill for two was 32€. If in the area again,I would even consider staying overnight at the hotel.
Instead of driving straight to Sarlat -about 2 1/2 hours - consider driving first to Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. If you can, reserve a tour of the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume cave immediately arriving there or possibly on-line beforehand. These are original cave paintings, not copies and admittance is extremely limited and there are English tours. From there you might visit the Musee National de Prehistoire. Then drive to the Baynac Feudal Castle on your way to Sarlat.
This is a beautiful area in France.
I would echo the encouragement to visit Albi - it's very different from other towns in that part of France...lots of brick as opposed to stone. The cathedral is VERY different when compared with others in Europe with one of the most amazing painted ceilings I've seen. It looks like it was just done yesterday. The vision of hell painted on the uniquely curved walls in the front of the church is also spectacularly horrific! We went way far out of our way to see the town and were glad that we did.
Thank you very much to everyone who replied - I appreciate all the excellent advice! Since we are very early in our planning, we will adjust our plans to include Albi!
Cheers to all,
Marvox
Toulouse-Lautrec museum in Albi is worth the visit, too. Slow roads can mean really slow -- as we departed Albi a few years ago, we were behind many semi trucks hauling freight. No places to pass them, so we just followed the convoy for a looooong time.
Don't give up on Carcassonne. I was there in June and thought it was a one of a kind sight. Incredible medieval town. We stayed at the very nice Carcassonne Guesthouse that had a great patio view of the old walled city.
Hey, Thanks Brian!!
This is very good to know, particularly because we just book the Carcassonne Guest house for our stay! Thank you for taking the time to reply1
Cheers,
Marvox
