These are pictures from the north west area, St.Antonin Noble Val, on the Aveyron river, the original abbey was founded in the 9th century, Penne dominated by the ruins of a 12th-century fortress, again on the Aveyron river, Bruniquel a small fortified village on the river Vere, a 12th Century castle on the site of a 6th century castle. Puycelci belongs to the association of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France", The most beautiful villages of France. Founded in the 10th century, much of the village has been restored, the 15th century castle survives. Cordes sur Ciel was built in 1222 and is a bastide, fortified new town of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
           

St.Antonin Noble Val  
     
    Bruniquel  
  Puycelci      
 
Penne        
 
Cordes sur Ciel      
 
       
           
Ambialet was founded by the Celts around the 6th century BC. They were followed by the Gauls, and the Romans, who set up a frontier post in this important strategic position. In 942, the Viscount of Albi, Aton "the Old", assumed the title of Viscount of Ambialet, giving rise to the first official reference to the town.
Ambialet        
         
Albi is the prefecture of the Tarn department. It is located on the River Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. The episcopal city, situated in the centre of the actual city, around the cathedral, was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2010.Albi is dominated by the Southern Gothic style Sainte Cécile cathedral built between the 13th and 15th centuries. The largest brick cathedral in Europe We like to wonder around the many surviving medieval streets. There are many expensive shops located here. We have a few favourite places for a coffee...Out of town there is just about every shop were need and our nearest shopping mall. There is an exhibition centre, a car and bike race circuit and a small aerodrome.
 
 
Albi Boat Trip
 
           
           
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Gaillac was founded in the Second Century and is our nearest "big" town, it has a medieval centre, a large abbey church which has gardens where concerts are held friday's in july and august, a chateau which hosts the annual wine festival, out of town shopping and a small aerodrome. The centre has recently (2011) been given a make over.

Lisle-sur-Tarn was created as a bastide by Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse in the 13th century the market square is the largest of all the south-western bastides, with about 5,000 m². It has been renovated in 2000. Another favourite place for a coffee !

Rabastens is a small town by the river Tarn, between Toulouse and Albi, again it has a very old centre. It has some interesting large buildings and churches
Gaillac        
           
  Lisle-sur-Tarn      
           
Rabastens        
 
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Giroussens          
         

Jardins des Martels. We picked up a leaflet for these gardens and as they were near our dentist, we decided we would visit after a dental checkup. We were glad we made the effort!

The Jardins des Martels (3.5 hectares) is a commercial botanical garden and flower park located in Giroussens, Tarn. The gardens were created by Marie-Thérèse and André Reynier in the late 1960s, as a private garden on their farm, and after considerable development opened to the public in 1994. Today the garden is set upon a well-landscaped terrain of numerous pools and hills, and features more than 2500 plant varieties from five continents, as well as a greenhouse of aquatic plants and a mini-farm with about 150 animals such as sheep, goats, ponies, ducks etc.
 
Fenols and Orban are two small villages very close to us, Fenols is popular for it's summer fete, three nights when the village draws in enormous amounts of people, there is an Irish night and then two other themed nights, there is a large dance floor that is full all night, different types of food are served all night along with drinks but little evidence of drunken people. There are people of all ages. Orban's fete is unique, bulls are chased through the village streets by riders on horses, the crowds are protected by a free standing meter high barrier

 
 
  Realmont      
     
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  Graulhet      
Graulhet was the centre of leather tanning but the industry has now gone. It left behind large deposits of arsenic used in the process which has recently been cleared. There are large supermarkets and a few large stores. There is a large old square with a few impressive buildings
     
Castres        
Castres became an important stop on the international pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain because its abbey-church, built in the 9th century, was keeping the relics of Saint Vincent, the renowned martyr of Spain. Castres is built on the River Agout, and the old houses on either side lean their upper stories out over the water . These were once the homes of the weavers and the dyers, and this connection with the textile industry is still important to Castres today.

Brassac        
A small town in the south of the Tarn, we found a house near here that we almost bought...
  Lavaur  

We saw this house in June 2009 at the same time as the one we bought, we were considering this one but were put off by the location, in the hills. It was nice inside but also required some work
 
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  Lautrec        

 

Below is Aquval

outdoor swimming pool

  
Vabre      
A village in the foothills of the Black Mountains, on the river Gijou, cafe makes very strong coffee!
     
Saurs, home of a local vineyard that holds apero concerts and also tours of the vineyard, below, grape press, grape picking machine, vines and the wine chai