Le Tour 2005 - A Virtual Cultural Trip

Along with the Palais des Papes in Avignon, the Berbie is one of the most completely restored fortresses in France.



At the end of the 12th century, the first archeveque of Albi ordered the construction of splendid terraces and gardens on the hillside from the Palais de la Berbie leading down to the Tarn river.

But let's have a closer look on another wellknown person:

They are restoring the museum these days, but it remains open during refurbishing, only the circuit you will follow changes as work progresses.

There's a really interesting website by the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum

This town is really worth staying much longer --- but the wheels are rolling ...

.... through the picturesque Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses



Soon we reach Roquefort



ehem, I wanted to say/show Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, of course

Roquefort is considered as the "King of cheeses". It has a tingly pungent taste and ranks among blue cheeses. Only the milk of specially bred sheep is used and is ripened in limestone caverns. It has the cylinder-shape with sticky, pale ivory, natural rind. Ripe Roquefort is creamy, thick and white on the inside and have a thin, burnt-orange skin. The ripening of the cheeses is in the natural, damp aired caves found under the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. It is the quality of the milk, the processing of the curd, the adding of "Penicillium roqueforti" and finally the ripening in natural caves that give us this unique and remarkable cheese. The exterior aspect of a Roquefort should be white and faintly shiny. The "pâté" should be cohesive, at the same time slightly crumbly. This cheese has a distinct bouquet and a flavor that combines the sweet burnt-caramel taste of sheep's milk with the sharp, metallic tang of the blue mould. Also frequently added in dressings and salads.

OoooH! Wow!

Millau Viaduct

Architects: Foster and Partners with engineer Michel Virlogeux

In an extraordinary project, Eiffel, the great infrastructure consortium, have built a viaduct to span the Tarn valley. The structural solution to this 2km crossing was to build a procession of slender concrete piers, supporting a road bridge, made like the hull of a ship; each steel hull section was pushed out across the gap, like a suspended super-tanker.



Chirac: "The Millau viaduct takes its place among our most shining works of civil engineering. It brilliantly embodies the verve of our research and technology.

"It is a magnificent example, in the long and great French tradition, of audacious works of art, a tradition begun at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by the great Gustave Eiffel.

"The French people are rightly proud of the feats accomplished here - feats which speak for France. A modern France, an enterprising, successful France, a France which invests in its future."

This very different bridge over the Tarn river indicates: we have arrived in Mende



Mende is the capital of the département of Lozère. It is well placed to profit from the tourist trade, located on the Lot River and the Massif Central, south-southeast of Clermont-Ferrand. The town is located about 17 miles from the Tarn Gorges, at an altitude of 2420 feet above sea level. A narrow 14th century bridge over the Lot still stands.

The city has been a bishopric since the 10th century. Its cathedral is 14th century, restored in the 17th.
The city was largely rebuilt early in the 17th century, following the devastation of 1579-80 during the wars of Religion .




[

I think, I'll go watching all the different 28 places on the guided town tour


See you later!

Pretty shot of Albi...

Ahhhhh, the Millau bridge, I just love it. (like the next one as well...)

With the Millau bridge, Foster gives Calatrava a run for his money (or looks, or talents).

Today (which is already Friday in real life), we start at a really very nice town: Issoire

Virtually untouched by the ravages of modern tourism (leaving aside that is animportant aeronautical centre and a mecca for glider pilots),
Issoire boasts an outstanding 12th Century abbey church, St-Austremoine:

The interious was painted in the 19th century, btw, in a 'colourful' way, which they liked at that time.

There are a couple more romanesque chuches in the Auvergne, just click on the churches at the website of Route Romane d'Auvergne

Our next stop is at Ambert






Fourme d'Ambert AOC
Its origins go back to the times of the Druids who worshipped their gods at Pierre-sur-Haute. The Hautes Chaumes in the Monts du Forez (where the milk is collected between 600 and 1000 m in altitude) were for a long time its cradle. Today, the area officially designated for the production of Fourme d'Ambert has been extended. This cheese has a characteristic cylindrical form. Its paste of blue mold is a sign of rustic authenticity. Its flowery flavor makes it one of the mildest of all blue cheeses.

And if you want a change from cycling - take the train (touristique, not the 'A-train' :wink: ) along the Dore river





(These trains are not the reason why Ambert is twinned with Gorgonzola )

Passing again pretty villages and an old castle





we 'meet' the Loire again and may follow this sign



to its source

Here's where Friday's etappe ends and we go now:

Le Puy-en-Velay

This sanctuary to the Virgin Mary dating from the 5th century was one of France's most important places of pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary in the 11th to 16th centuries.



The mysterious statue of the Black Virgin burned in 1794 and reproduced by Philippe Kaeppelin from 13th century document, and the 12th and 13th century frescos and sculptures recall this cathedral's links with the Christian Middle East.


The cathedral was listed as part of the world's heritage by UNESCO on 8 December 1998.
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Corneille Rock - Statue of Notre Dame de France


Rock and Chapel of Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe


Martouret square: From the late Latin "martoretum", cemetery, in common terms this noun has come to mean "the square of martyrs" because this site was reserved for public executions. On 8th June 1794 the previous and authentic miraculous statue of the Black Virgin was burnt.



The fountain, known as the "Bidoire", is the oldest in the town, installed in 1246, the dolphins and eagles covering the fountain must date from the 15th century.

Of course, we won't miss the chateaux in the neighbourhood:

Forteresse de Polignac



Built as early as the 12C on a basalt hillock, the château de Polignac is a fine example of military architecture in Auvergne. The surrounding walls pierced by loopholes and the battlements which rhythm is created by powerful towers are all that has survived to this day. The site is overlooked by a 32-m- high machicolated keep which offers a breathtaking view of the Puys range. It houses artistic events, organized by the 'Polignac fortress' foundation which is devoted to the safeguarding of the edifice.

Château de Saint-Vidal



Fief of the de la Tour de Saint-Vidal family, this massive medieval fortress raised in the 13C was extended during the following centuries. In the 16C, Antoine II de Saint-Vidal, governor of Vélay and Gévaudan, had it fortified and fit for artillery. His opposition to Henri IV earned the fortress a siege in 1591. The medieval features of the ogival kitchen equipped with monumental fireplaces are combined with decorative elements such as Renaissance windows or with exposed beams ceilings.