Statue Overlooking the River Tarn
The Berbie Palace in Albi is an excellent addition to the episcopal city UNESCO World Heritage site listing. The palace is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in France. The red brick no doubt help with the strength of the structure. I was surprised that it is actually older than the Palais de Papes in Avignon which I thought was significantly older. Turns out this was all built in the 13th century. As I was exploring the Berbie Palace, I realized how the bishop managed to find a good location for his church/palace. Most of the time fortresses would have been built in higher ground. For whatever reason, this was not the case for the cathedral and palace. Instead, it was built by the river.
Looking at the River Tarn
To compensate for not building the cathedral and palace on a hill, the cathedral was built as a very high fortress. These days the defensive walls of the palace are no longer there and visitors can enjoy the Berbie palace. What is nice is the palace is built along the banks of the river Tarn and it can be seen from the palace and from the gardens. From here, I noticed that there are still some interesting places here in Albi. It was a shame that it was raining since it would have been much more enjoyable to visit. Even so, it seems that the river Tarn has a couple of interesting spots to see.
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