albi: part 1

Albi is about an hour away from Toulouse by train. It is famous for its beautiful brick cathedral, Saint-Cecile, and for being the home of the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

First stop: Saint Cecile

Brick is a very common building material in Toulouse, and I think south western France in general, but we had yet to see a cathedral made out of brick. St. Cecile is, and it’s huge! The interior is painted, wall to wall to ceiling, in gorgeous, bright colors. The ceiling paint is all original from the middle ages. I couldn’t believe how colorful it was! It was also kind of cool because there was a huge wedding going on when we got there so we listened to their vows and also got to hear the organ play “Ave Maria”. Awesome acoustics. 

Second Stop: Musee Toulouse-Lautrec

This museum houses a ton of the artist’s work. The building is called the Palais de Berbie and was completed in the 13th century. Behind it is this incredible little garden and a great view of the river Tarn. It was kinda funny, because as we were leaving we saw the couple from the cathedral. Talk about a great location for wedding photos. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside at all, but he is famous for lithographic prints for Moulin Rouge, as well as some really cool paintings. 

adventures on the road of the bull

After three weeks of being in Toulouse, I finally stumbled upon an open air market! Noemi and I were walking over to Rue du Taur to see St. Sernin basilica and a few other sights (to be discussed in subsequent posts), and as we passed through Place du Capitole, there it was-rows and rows of people selling clothes, shoes, used books, jewelry, etc. etc. I bought a book of Jacques Prévert poems for 2.5 euro. Pas mal!

We then proceeded down Rue du Taur to see the ever so lovely St. Sernin Basilica and Toulouse's museum of antiquities.

St. Sernin is a beautiful, romanesque church. No angry priests this time around, even though I was reading my Jacques Prévert book instead of scripture while sitting in the pews. 

The museum was free (of course, Toulouse is a student's paradise), so even though we're not particularly interested in Toulousian antiquities, we ran in. It was actually really cool! We spent maybe 30 minutes just breezing through it, and it was quite enjoyable.

And, it is 2:00 AM here, and we are tired from a day spent in Carcassonne, so I will continue this little narrative later. Fireworks, Olivia Ruiz, more random pretty shots of Rue du Taur, food, fun, excitement, everlasting joy to come!

everything is illuminated

I've been meaning to write this post for a while:

A Collection of Stained Glass Windows from Cathedrals in Europe.

Downham, England

York Minister, York, England and the town hall of Dundee, Scotland

Les Jacobins Monastery, Toulouse, France

St. Maire Eglise, Normandy, France

Amboise, France

St. Etienne Cathedral, Toulouse, France

The crown jewel of all stained glass windows, in my opinion: St. Chapelle. 

It's a tiny cathedral not far from Notre Dame in Paris. You walk upstairs and into the chapel, and it's like being inside of a kaleidoscope. Every wall in the entire cathedral looks like the photo, telling a ton of Old Testament stories, panel by panel, and then something about the relics of the chapel (?).  It is awe inspiring. So beautiful!

St. Etienne is rolling in his grave over your lack of charity

A couple of days ago Noemi and I went on a little excursion and saw St. Etienne cathedral. This cathedral is particularly interesting because it's an eclectic mix of a bunch of different architectural styles...and now I don't remember what they all are...but I paid 0.05 euro for a little English brochure, so I can go find out anytime I feel the need to know.

pretty organ!

Here is a tale about how I got yelled at by a French priest while we were here. There was this slot in the wall and a keyhole underneath it, but it looked liked if it had been some sort of little door that it had been plastered shut. While Noemi and I were discussing possibilities of what it could be for, I was touching the little slot and this priest (maybe just a worker at the cathedral? je ne sais pas) was like, "Qu'est-ce que vous cherchez la?" (what are you looking for?) And I said nothing and then he went off about how this isn't America and you can't just something something something (didn't understand what he was saying/I just start tuning French people out when they're upset). I think the slot was for money, and he thought we were going to steal it? Listen French priest, Noemi and I are the last people who'd steal from a Catholic church.We found it kind of amusing.

I think being in France has made me realize just how very much American I am.

bienvenue! and creepy old statues.

 

 

Yesterday was our last day in England. We performed in South Port, near Liverpool on Tuesday night (I danced the theater arts routine for Allie who had to leave for Miss Utah! So fun! So scary!), after having toured the Beatles Museum that morning. Wednesday I flew in France. I'll post more photos and things about all this later. 

But first, let me explain the above photos. There's this tomb of some guy high up in the Anglican church in the York Minster. The angel babies are supposed to be crying over his death. But we decided that it was really an ode to a pedophile with him lying in this somewhat provocative pose and children turning away crying. 

Funny thing is, that's the exact pose the boys in the cha cha started out in in our show Saturday night (we get bored doing the same show night after night after night, so sometimes we..uh...change...things slightly).

Anyway. Today we shall explore Paris, the city of light! Woo!!!