House hunting in Occitanie France, Part 1 ,trips to Albi and Béziers Ep 136 Going Walkabout

House hunting in France, come see the highs and lows of trying to find our final home. In between visit the beautiful places in OCCITANIE, Albi Cathedral and Halle’s de Béziers.

Welcome back to Going Walkabout. In our never- ending journey to find a new home, today we’ll be traveling to a small town in the south of France near the Mediterranean called St. Laurent de la Salank. St. Laurent de la Salange sits near the Spanish border and the Mediterranean. The car ride would be an hour from our place in Carcasson and we were due to meet the realer at 2:00 in the afternoon at the hotel Deville, which is the city or town hall area. Home was advertised on My French House. It said it was in the heart of the village within walking distance of all shops in a quiet secluded area. It was a former stone winery. The photos got us excited as it looked like a complete refurbishment. Large cooks kitchen with great room adjacent. Room for two big couches for lazy TV days. A porch patio just off the great room with more seating. Upstairs, a large main bedroom with on suite bathroom and two guest bedrooms to boot. We were excited to view this modern makeover. We got to the town an hour early and just walked around to get a feel for the place. The village was nice, but I wasn’t in love with it, so I was hoping the house would make up for that. Well, we waited way past our appointment time, and the real litter never showed. We did ring her on our drive back and she said she got confused on time. That was odd as we had confirmed the meeting by email that morning. It had cost us the better part of a day and almost €10 in tolls. Needless to say, we were less than impressed. Arriving back at our rental, we decided to take a few days off house hunting and head for another area in Oxitane. With the main city being Albi, we took the longer route which took us through the mountain area. With the trees so plentiful and the leaves changing, we found ourselves enjoying the long car ride. We had rented a small Airbnb, which was an outbuilding for what had been part of a larger estate. The couple we rented from had completely renovated the old stone building and had created a heavenly one-bedroom, one bath paradise with full kitchen. The decor was perfect for the small space and made the tiny home feel expansive. We both admired their ability to get a full kitchen with dishwasher into a space as small as a boat galley. [Music] First lunch was outside on the patio enjoying some prawns, pate, anchovies, tomatoes, and bread. Voila, as they say, t magic. The upstairs of this cute cobblestone house were no less impressive. The master suite and bathroom were absolutely gorgeous, and everything worked perfectly. It was lovely and cozy and warm and comfortable. The main thing to do in Albi area is visit the Albby Cathedral. We set off early so we would have plenty of time to explore. The cathedral was begun in 1282 and was under construction for 200 years. It truly is one of those sites that is more impressive in person. The walls tower above you at epic heights. To this day, it is the largest brick structure in the world. And while the outside is majestic, the interior is mind-blowing. We’ve seen a lot of churches in our travels, but few take your breath away like the Cathedral of Albi. Construction and decoration of the cathedral continued through the 15th century with the completion of the bell tower that is 78 m high which was done in 1492. The cathedral is built in the southern French Gothic style sometimes called the Tuloose style. Rib vaults were painted in 1509 to 1512 most of which look fresh and colorful today. I can only hope I age as well. One of the distinctive features of the Albi Cathedral is the polychrome geometric painting of the upper walls. The geometric designs have a number of different motifs. They are like a cocktail for the eyes, fun and fantastical. Cannot leave the area without exploring the topiary gardens outside the cathedral. The day we were there, it was misty, which only added to the echoes of the past crashing into the present. With the bridges in the distance, you could easily envision the 15th century landscape and the romance of the bygone era. The last stop for our day in Albi would be visiting the museum of one of my favorite artists who just happened to be born in Albi, Henry Dealoo Le, born November 24th, 1864 and died September 9th, 1901. In his 37 years and despite many disabilities, he left an imprint on the world. While born into the aristocracy, he suffered from congenital health conditions brought on by his parents inbreeding as they were first cousins. His lifelong battle with his body and health led him to frequent brothel in Paris. He found the working girls to be kind and compassionate and many would say some of his best paintings were produced depicting their lives. This was prior to the posters he would become one of the first global brands when he began to produce them. To this day, Tulus Latre posters designs grace the homes of the rich and poor. His style never growing old with his flare for color and action in every painting. As we were leaving the museum, I gazed at a shop window and could swear I saw Tuloose at his easel, thus ending our magical day in Albi. Well, we had to leave our lovely Airbnb and get back to our longerterm rental. So, we thought, why not stop in at Beziier on the way back? We’d heard it’s a beautiful city with a great food hall, Hal’s de Bezier. Driving into the city, we knew something was up. There were people literally running around everywhere. Every street was clogged with runners and traffic. The French were having a fun day, a Sunday, fun run. We had to loop around the city twice to get into the parking near the highs debzier. [Music] The food hall was a hive of activity that day. All food halls are fun. However, this one seemed electric. Between the Sunday runners and families going out for Sunday lunch, the vibe was intoxicating. We dug into our tapus with delight, trying to postpone the car ride home as long as possible. Back in the car and heading back to our place near Carcasson, we began to compile a list of homes we’d like to find in France. Living in a small village now showed us that that could be nice. Also, living in a townhouse like the one we’re in now would be good, too. We do have a few homes in store to tour over the next few weeks. This home at €185 seems too good to be true. This one at €229 seems nice, but what’s the catch? Here is one I really like, but at €347, it’s bumping up against our budget. [Music] You’ll have to stay tuned for the results. Thanks for watching today. If you’ve enjoyed the video, a thumbs up really helps the channel. Or better yet, subscribe. We do a new video every week. Thanks again. Cheers for now.