We were in Narbonne for the morning where we visited the “Horreum” which is a set of underground tunnels and reservoirs dating from Roman times. Then, jumping forwards a thousand years, the Cathedral Treasury, which had a couple of good things …
A tapestry showing the story of Genesis from the creation of the world up to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. God is the Trinity here I think.And an ivory tablet with the passion of Christ.
Then a lunch-time train to Toulouse. We are staying in the modern part of town in an “Apart-hotel”, very convenient.
An afternoon walk to the “Convent of the Jacobins”, no longer a convent, but showing off it’s soaring palm-vault. Wiki says: “Between 1275 and 1292, the height of the choir was increased, and a vaulted roof constructed. In response to the technical difficulty posed by creating a vaulted roof for the new space, the builders installed one oversized column in the centre from which the ribs radiated outwards in all directions. This feature has come to be known as Le Palmier des Jacobins, the palm tree of the Jacobins.”and a more modern depiction of the passion, by Jean-Marie Pirot.
The remains of St. Thomas Aquinas are buried here, it was an early Dominican monastery, around 1250.
Dinner was well-deserved after such an eventful day – I am told that I started with Foie Gras and a quince macaroon, then some kind of chicken, finished with Armagnac coffee. Barbara had squash soup, roast lamb with garlic and beans, chocolate pudding in creme anglais.
